One Nation, Under God

Mavs stun 1C foes, take third place

The North Country Mavericks Volleyball Team entered the 1C District tournament as the tournament's seventh seed and finished as third place trophy winners at the end of the three-day event in Plentywood on Saturday, November 2.

"I knew going into it that we could compete with the second through eighth seed teams, so it didn't surprise me but it felt good," Mavericks Head Coach Charlene Wasson said with a smile.

In finishing third, the Lady Mavericks punched their ticket to the Eastern C Divisional Tournament set to start on Thursday, November 7, in Sidney. The team is set to face the Ekalaka Bulldogs at around 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, as the event's second match.

"I know that Ekalaka is scrappy and I know that they are a team that communicates a lot, so I would kind of compare them to Fairview," Coach Wasson said. "They don't have a significantly good hitter but they have consistent hitters."

The Mavericks may have an advantage in the height department with Ekalaka's tallest listed hitter being 5'8".

"It's really about who shows up to play," Coach Wasson said.

The 1C Champion Plentywood Wildcats will open up the Eastern C Divisional against Scobey at 10 a.m. Given recent history chances are the winner of the North Country - Ekalaka game will likely face the Wildcats, who have not lost a game since their loss to Scobey on Thursday, September 12. Plentywood has not lost a set in a match since their clash with Glasgow in mid-October.

"Plentywood is just really consistent and they do have a couple of really hard hitters," Coach Wasson said. "Right now they are just playing really smart."

Coach Wasson went on to say in addition to those two heavy hitters, Plentywood has grown in experience in the middle and those middle hitters use directions attacks.

"It throws you off a little bit in your defensive coverage," Coach Wasson said. "Liv and Dawn can take your arms off when they hit but I think we will make some adjustments."

Even with a threat like Plentywood on their side of the bracket, Coach Wasson knows the team needs to stay focused on the opponent in front of them.

"I'm not looking past Ekalaka because scrappy teams are just waiting for you to make mistakes," Coach Wasson said. "So if you're having a mistake-ridden game, it's pretty hard to beat a team like that. I feel like we are rolling and talking and we kind of have a fire lit under us now."

Only two teams will move on to the State C Volleyball Tournament in Bozeman from Thursday, November 14 to Saturday, November 16.

In North Country's outing at the District 1C Tournament, odds were against the Mavericks who fought and clawed their way through six games last weekend, finishing third in the tournament despite coming into the 11-team tournament as the seventh seed.

North Country opened up against the Bainville Bulldogs on Thursday, October 31 and won in three sets. The scores were 25-19, 25-11, and 25-17.

Kia Wasson had the team lead in kills with 11 and in digs with 13. Jaydyn Erickson had ten kills. Kaitlyn McColly had 12 digs and nine kills.

The Mavericks faced Fairview and MonDak two times that weekend, defeating Fairview both times and losing to MonDak twice. MonDak would eventually go on to the Championship Game, losing to Plentywood in three sets.

The scores in North Country's first game against Fairview on Thursday were 25-18 (Fairview), 25-19 (NC), 25-18 (NC), and 25-20 (NC). K. Wasson had 14 kills and 23 digs. Jaycee Erickson had 20 assists.

Four Mavericks had over 20 digs each including Elise Strommen (24), K. Wasson (23), McColly (24), and Danika Soper (20). The defensive trend would continue throughout the tournament. Over the six games K. Wasson would rack up 130 digs, Strommen had 127, McColly had 119, and Soper had 93.

"When we started to realized that we can move our feet and get to stuff, the kids started reading the hits better, and we didn't let a lot of balls touch the floor without a hand getting on it," Coach Wasson said. "That keeps you in a lot of games and gives you confidence to know that you can dig up everybody's hits."

In the team's first loss to MonDak on Friday evening, the scores were 25-15 (MD), 25-19 (MD), 25-20 (NC), 25-20 (NC), and 15-11 (MD).

K. Wasson had a team-leading 18 kills along with 10 digs. Strommen had 26 digs. Jaycee Erickson had 20 assists and Soper had 17. Jaydyn Erickson had two kills.

On Saturday morning the Mavericks were put against Scobey and defeated the Spartans in five sets. The scores were 25-14 (NC), 25-17 (S), 26-24 (S), 26-24 (NC), and 15-13 (NC).

K. McColly led in kills with 15. K. Wasson had 31 digs. Jaydyn Erickson had 20 assists. Mattea McColly had five blocks.

At 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, the Mavericks clashed again with Fairview and won in five sets. The scores were 25-23 (F), 26-24 (NC), 25-16 (NC), 25-14 (F), and 15-13 (NC).

The team was led by K. McColly who had 20 kills and 24 digs. K. Wasson had 11 kills and 22 digs. Jaycee Erickson and Soper each had 19 assists.

In their final match with MonDak, the Mavericks lost in four sets. The scores were 25-23 (NC), 25-19 (MD), 25-22 (MD) and 25-20 (MD).

The Mavs were led by K. McColly who had 13 kills and 16 digs. K. Wasson had 11 kills and 18 digs. Strommen had a team-leading 20 digs. Jaycee Erickson had 15 assists and 19 digs. Soper had 13 assists and 12 digs.

 

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