BROOKINGS — After playing their first 12 games on the road the Brookings Bobcats finally played their home opener on Saturday afternoon.

While a 3-0 sweep at the hands of the O’Gorman Knights wasn’t what the Bobcats envisioned in their first game of the season, Brookings coach Erinn Thomas says she has learned a lot about her team which should help them post a strong second half.

“We were so excited to be home after 12 matches on the road,” Thomas said. “The long bus trips are fun, but it’s great to have your home gym, crowd and routine.”

The Bobcats posted an 8-4 record in their first 12 matches but faced plenty of adversity early in the year. With injuries to a pair of starters, Thomas admits that it’s played a role in some of the team’s weaknesses but also gave them a chance to allow younger players to step up.

“Playing 12 matches has allowed us to work through a lot of situations and lineups,” Thomas said. “We’ve faced some adversity but a positive out of that is that we have a lot of players who can step in and play different positions.”

While will be long-term positives to getting some experience for some of their younger players, it was a challenge against O’Gorman.

The Knights and Bobcats battled to a 6-6 tie in the first set before O’Gorman went on a 14-1 run to take a 20-7 lead and eventually win the set 25-9.

O’Gorman took another early lead with a 5-2 run to open the second set and led 11-5 when the Bobcats took a timeout. After the Knights expanded their lead to 15-7, O’Gorman reached set point at 24-12 and went on to win 25-15.

O’Gorman jumped ahead 10-2 in the third set but Brookings showed some competitiveness before falling 25-19 to end the match.

Arielle Ferrell, Kymber Buys, Macy Even and Rylee Thompson led the Bobcats with four kills each. Kymber Buys led Brookings with nine assists and Kamryn Streich had five assists.

Walker had the lone ace for Brookings.

Morgan Norgaard had 13 digs for the Bobcats. Buys had nine digs and Streich had seven digs. Buys, Thompson and Walker each had a block.

Thomas said that the Bobcats’ tendency to allow long runs showed up against the Knights, but she saw positives toward the end of the second and third sets.

“We’ve been focusing in practice on limiting our unforced errors and keeping a positive mindset on the next ball,” Thomas said. “In the second set, we saw a little dip in energy after losing a few long rallies. However, I’m proud of how we fought back toward the end of the second and third set.”

The way the match ended and the progress the Bobcats have shown this year are a couple of reasons why Thomas is optimistic as Brookings heads into the second half of the season and a matchup against Mitchell at 7 p.m. Thursday.

“We have a few key matches coming up and I’m feeling optimistic about hosting a SoDak 16 match,” Thomas said. “We have a quick turnaround, but we’re excited to get into the gym on Monday and keep working towards that goal.”