By BRANDON WILLIS
Student Reporter
As the fall season of athletics begins, it is definitely turning out to be a promising one. With Ranger Football and Volleyball both getting major wins and Soccer coming up with a 0-0 draw, clearly this new beginning of Ranger Athletics is looking to be one that will be remembered.
As the Lady Ranger Volleyball team went on the road to face the Sterling College Warriors, they suffered a 0-3 loss, (22-25, 23-25, 22-25). The Warriors were able to find bursts of energy to come out with the win, most notably with a 5-0 run in the second set.
Despite this loss, the Lady Rangers were able to come out with a 3-1 (19-25, 25-20, 25-14, 25-18) win over the Oklahoma Panhandle State Aggies and a 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-18) win, also over the Aggies. Even being down in the first set of the first game, the Lady Rangers didn’t let it get to them and went to dominate the Aggies, with an impressive 7-3 run in the third set.
In the second game, they dominated the whole way through, with a 10-2 run and a 6-0 run in the first and third sets.
The Lady Rangers ended up losing to Fort Lewis College, 1-3 (28-30, 23-25, 25-21, 20-25). Even though it was a close matchup throughout, Fort Lewis came out with the win with a 3-0 run in the first set.
The Lady Rangers Volleyball team is 2-2 under Frederick Wagner’s first season as the Head Coach.
The Lady Rangers Soccer team seemed promising in their first game against Northeastern State with a score of 0-0 in the first half. However, once the second half started, Northeastern ended up scoring 7 points against the Rangers with the first point coming from just 36 seconds into the second half. Northeastern State ended with 40 total shots. Ranger goalie Briana Legaspi having 16 saves.
In the second matchup, the Lady Rangers faced the Wayne State Wildcats, which ended up with a 0-0 draw, with Legaspi ending with 13 saves.
Defense is what kept the Rangers going, as they worked together the whole game to keep the Wildcats from scoring. Craig Liddell’s team is 0-1-1, in his first season as the Lady Rangers soccer head coach.
The Ranger Football team is coming out this season firing. With a huge win against the Monticello Weevils, the Rangers are looking to make a name for themselves in the Division II community.
As the Rangers trailed 17-0 in the first quarter, they came out in the second quarter scoring 31 unanswered points.
Head coach Matthew Walter must have lit a fire under his team as they finished the game with 459 total offensive yards.
The Rangers capitalized on mistakes by the Weevils, as the Rangers caused a turnover and forced Monticello to punt, leading to 17 of Northwestern’s point.
Frederick Wagner, Craig Liddell and Matt Walter all being new head coaches to the Ranger Athletics are all making very impressive strides in the right direction for success.
Soccer will open play at home Sept. 19. Volleyball is facing off against Sioux Falls Sep. 11, and the Ranger Football team battles against Southern Arkansas Sept. 12.