Jamestown College football coach Bud Etzold has gotten reacquainted with heading his own program.

With head coaching duties comes the stress of worrying about player behavior to picking where the team eats its meals on the road.

That's just small potatoes. Etzold enjoys the preparation and spending time with all the players and assistant coaches on defense, offense and special teams.

"Once you've done it, that's the itch you have to scratch," Etzold said.

Etzold served as the Jimmies' head coach from 1995-99. He served as the school's athletic director from 1999-2000.

In 2002, Etzold was an assistant coach for Myron Schulz at the University of Mary and served the school in a development position.

Etzold decided to return to Jamestown last spring. Under Etzold, the Jimmies are nationally ranked in the NAIA at No. 15 and are off to a 2-1 start. Their loss came from Wisconsin-Stout.

Even though the Jimmies turned in a banner season last year making it to the NAIA playoffs this season's successes haven't been easy.

"It isn't as automatic as you would think on the outside looking in,"Etzold said. "We're still a work in progress. I'm excited about the talent base we have here."

Etzold and his wife were eager to return to Jamestown and rekindle old friendships, yet they still miss the relationships they built in Bismarck.

"Just about everybody you know in North Dakota is going to be in Bismarck every once in awhile,"Etzold said. "It's a gathering spot in the state."

And, yes, Etzold has kept tabs on the Marauders this season. The Jimmies and the Marauders met up at a truckstop in Clearwater, Minn., after Jamestown lost in Wisconsin, and U-Mary got whipped in Mankato, Minn.

"We had a pity party,"Etzold said. "When you're involved with a sport like football, you spend a lot of hours with the guys on staff. The ultimate reward of coaching is all the people you meet."

U-Mary upsets Wayne State

Some reward the U-Mary volleyball team got for upsetting Northern Sun foe Wayne State on Saturday.

There wasn't much time to celebrate. Coach Heidi Sunderland had her team in the gym on Sunday to prepare for Tuesday's match against Minnesota-Duluth.

"It was the first Sunday practice we had in four years," Sunderland said. "We were a little flat, which is to be expected. I told the girls to enjoy (the win) when they could."

Laci Murtha, a sophomore middle hitter, came up with her best performance so far this season. Murtha put down a team-high 13 kills and hit .423.

As a team, the Marauders finished with a hitting efficiency of .221.

"We had good ball control, and when that is good we were able to win in transition,"Sunderland said. "We could set multiple options, and that increases everybody's percentage."

Wayne State hit a pedestrian .125 while U-Mary (3-13) fired nine service aces. Libero Kendra Hobbs collected three aces.

"We were serving well and mixing it up,"Sunderland said. "(Wayne State) didn't serve receive well, and when you don't serve receive well, you can't run an offense."

The Marauders host MSU-Mankato on Friday and No. 8 Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday.

Winning at home

The U-Mary women's soccer team took care of business at home when it dispatched Northern State 3-1 on Sunday.

The Marauders (1-6) snapped a six-game losing streak in their home opener.

"People use the cliche of getting the monkey off your back,"U-Mary coach Levi Evans said. "I look at it as our first home game. If you can take care of your home field, it's a good thing down the road."

The timing plays into the Marauders' favor. U-Mary travels to Augustana on Saturday and Wayne state on Sunday. Augustana is unbeaten in Northern Sun play.

"We haven't won a road game yet this year,"Evans said. "I think Augustana is one of the better teams in the conference. I think our team is ready for Augustana. I think it will be a highly-entertaining game."

Some positives the Marauders can take from the Northern State game was scoring on a corner kick which was a set play and their defense.

But one of the most important elements Evans was pleased with was his team's composure. Northern State led 1-0 at halftime, and the Marauders didn't panic.

"We're a 0-6 team, it would have been easy to say, 'Here we go again,'" Evans said. "We just kept playing our game. The most impressive thing is we played 90 minutes. I never felt like we took a break."

CC taking advantage of a layoff

The U-Mary men's and women's cross country teams won't see live competition until Oct. 4 when they travel to the South Dakota State Classic.

Coach Mike Thorson and associate head coach Dennis Newell are looking forward to a couple weeks of training.

"From a confidence standpoint, it will be huge when you look at the big picture in where we want to be in a month," Thorson said.

Thorson said not all runners put in enough offseason training for a number of reasons.

"We're playing a little catch-up," Thorson said. "That puts coach Newell in a tough position. It's hard to play catch-up at this point.

"A lot of it is we're just young," Thorson added. "I don't know if they understand what it's going to take at this level, especially with the (former NCC) teams coming in."

Welcomed time off

Like the cross country teams, the U-Mary men's soccer team is taking advantage of a long layoff.

The Marauders (1-7) will be idle from Sept. 18 to Oct. 5 when they host Great Falls, Mont.

Coach David Cook is looking at the long break as a second training camp.

"For the team we have now, based on the fact that we're transitioning, it's not bad to have a couple weeks to reflect and think of some things that you want to improve on for the next match,"Cook said. "We have no performance to worry about. It's like a training camp in the middle of the season."

The Marauders entered the break with a positive mindset as they beat Jamestown for their first win of the season on Sept. 17.

Softball team in action

The University of Mary softball team will host the U-Mary Fall Invite on Saturday. Three teams will play six games at Brad Walsh Park on the U-Mary campus.

In addition to U-Mary, competing in the six-game round robin tournament are MSU-Moorhead and Northern State.

The schedule is:Northern State vs. MSU-M, 9:30 a.m. MSUM vs. U-Mary, 11 a.m. U-Mary vs. Northern State, 12:30 p.m. MSUM vs. Northern State, 2 p.m. U-Mary vs. MSUM, 3:30 p.m. Northern State vs. U-Mary, 5 p.m.

Saturday's games do not count in the official record of the schools. U-Mary officially opens its season Feb. 14.

Sturlaugson collecting digs

Bismarck State libero Britlyn Sturlaugson has been doing her job well this year.

The sophomore has collected 145 digs this season, increasing her total from last year at this point of the season. Sturlaugson split time at libero last year, but has taken sole ownership of the position this year.

"Imoved her to the left side,"Bismarck State coach Linette Olson said. "A lot of balls go over there."

With Sturlaugson manning the left side, the BSC offense has been more efficient.

"She is the best passer we have, no doubt,"Olson said. "She anticipates really well. She reads the hitters better than most players, and she gets a jump on them."