Mavericks head to 1C Tourney

The North Country Mavericks volleyball team will head into the District 1C Tournament as the Conference Runner-up after compiling a 15-2 record overall, and losing only one conference game to the 1C Champion Froid-Lake Redhawks.

The 1C District Tournament is scheduled to start on Thursday, October 27, and conclude on Saturday, October 29. Five of the 14 1C teams will move on to the Eastern C Divisional that will be held in Culbertson starting on Thursday, November 10.

Thanks to their efforts in the regular season, the Mavericks have earned a first-round bye. The Mavericks first game will be on Thursday, October 27, against the winner of Scobey and Richey-Lambert's matchup in the opening round.

Coach Wasson was asked how the team felt heading into this week's tournament.

"We are ready to get back to work and play some intense games this weekend," Mavericks Head Coach Charlene Wasson said. "Tournaments in our large district of 14 teams is all about serving well and being ready to play. At this point in the season all we really can do is fine tune some timing issues and prepare defensively for each different team we will see in the tourneys moving forward."

Coach Wasson was asked about some of the other top teams in the 1C District.

"Froid-Medicine Lake finished regular season at the top spot and are powerful hitters, so we need to be better defensively against them to beat them," Coach Wasson said. "Savage goes into the tournament in third place. We played them early in the season and won in five. They are a scrappy team on defense but have a few holes that we attack when we play them. The fourth through seventh seeded teams are really close competitively."

In North Country's final game of the regular season, the team hosted and defeated the Nashua Porcupines 3-0 in Saco. The scores were 25-4, 25-14, and 25-18.

"Coach was telling us when we warm up, always be prepared," Maverick hitter Teagan Erickson said. "Warm up. Get Focused. Focus was the main key in getting the win tonight."

The team was led by Paige Wasson who had a 10 kill, 12 assist double-double as well as five aces. Erickson had 11 kills. Kora LaBrie had a team-leading six aces. Kennedy Simonson had eight assists. LaBrie, Simonson, and Wasson each had four digs. Berkeley Hillman had one block.

Though they grabbed control early, the Mavs found themselves trailing by six in the third set. Maverick freshman BaiLee McColly was asked how they were able to fight back and take control.

"I think that we all just came together as a team, figured our stuff out, and learned what we needed to fix," McColly said.

McColly, a freshman who has been playing varsity minutes for the Mavericks this year, was asked how high school volleyball has been for her this season.

"It feels pretty intimidating, I was really nervous but towards the end of the season, I learned to play with these girls, figured out how to work with them and I learned a lot," McColly said.

Erickson, a Saco student, was asked about the newly remodeled Saco Gymnasium which features new lighting and a new floor, making it among the brightest in the county.

"It looks absolutely amazing," Erickson said. "It makes the lighting in the gym look a lot different. It's not as yellow. The gym is a fun atmosphere to play in, we get a lot of fans, and it is a lot of fun."