(Editor's note: DCC Athletics release)
GLENDIVE - The upcoming sport seasons at Dawson Community College will look a little different than normal.
The volleyball season was pushed back to spring instead of the normal August start date. The NJCAA also reduced their schedule to 21 competition dates. With seven volleyball teams in the Mon-Dak, the conference decided that everyone will play the other six teams three times each which leaves only 3 extra competition dates outside of conference. The Lady Bucs will open with a game at Miles Community College on Friday, January 29th and then host the Lady Pioneers the next day on January 30th for their first home match. The Lady Bucs did not return any players from last year's team so it will be a completely new roster of all freshman who are looking to prove themselves at the college level.
The basketball seasons were also pushed back almost three months and will tip off on January 20th and the regular season will run through the end of March. The NJCAA reduced the number of games from 30 to 22 this year. The eight teams in the Mon-Dak Conference will play each other three times each which only leaves space for one non-conference game. It makes for an unbalanced schedule since head to head match-ups will have to be played twice at one location and only once at the other. The Bucs and Lady Bucs basketball teams will host Miles, Williston, Bismarck and Lake Region twice, but will have to play at United Tribes, Dakota College Bottineau and North Dakota State College of Science twice. Dawson will open up with a road game at Miles on January 20th and then have their home opener against Bismarck State on January 23rd. The Lady Bucs return four players from last year's team including All-American Ashya Klopfenstein as well as starters Tamiya Francis, Haley Olson and Megan Lindbo. The Bucs only return 2 guys from their championship team last year. 6'11 center Charles Lampten and 6'0 guard Kell Schwers were starters on a team that finished 27-7.
The Dawson County Board of Health approved a plan for DCC to allow spectators in a limited capacity. More details of that plan will be released in the coming weeks before the seasons begin.
Baseball, softball, track and rodeo were all greatly affected last year when their seasons were cancelled in the spring, but they are also preparing to compete in the coming months. Baseball and track will begin in January while softball and rodeo will begin in February and March respectively.
DCC Athletic Director Joe Peterson commented about the schedules, "We are excited to get these seasons started very soon. The schedule is packed with every sport competing at the same time. We are doing everything we can to ensure the safety of our student-athletes as we put the necessary protocols in place. We were very fortunate with how things worked out this fall with all of our teams practicing and scrimmaging against other teams; as well as rodeo and cross country being able to complete their fall seasons. We are trying to continue that in the spring to ensure these student-athletes can have successful seasons as much as possible during the pandemic. They came to Dawson to get their education and be able to play the sport they love so hopefully they will get a chance to do both. I'm sure there will be postponements and maybe even cancellations at times, but I'm convinced we can make this work. "
For a full list of DCC athletic schedules along with Bucs Club information, please visit www.dawsonbucs.com [dawsonbucs.com]
