Mavericks Welcome Back Plenty From '22

The North Country Lady Mavericks volleyball team earned their first state trophy last season, placing third at the 2022 State C Volleyball Tournament, and they have retained plenty of talent.

This includes senior hitters Teagan Erickson and Paige Wasson who were both All-State selections in 2022 and senior Kendall Scheffelmear who was a second team All-Conference selection.

"Every year is different at the beginning of the season," Lady Mavericks Head Coach Charlene Wasson said. "You don't know which kid has matured over the summer. Or if they will find themselves being more vocal."

She feels like the freshmen and eighth graders that came in this year were relaxed whereas last year's additions were more aggressive and caught on fast.

The team will be without Kora LaBrie, Mattea McColly, Cienna Strommen, and Ashtyn Smith, who all graduated last Spring.

So far, the Mavericks are 7-2, and are on a two game win streak with a 3-0 win over the Harlem Wildcats in Whitewater last Thursday, and a 3-1 win over the Scobey Spartans last Friday in Hinsdale.

In their win over Scobey, the scores were 21-25, 25-12, 25-16, and 25-16. Erickson led with 20 kills. Wasson had 16 kills and a team leading eight aces.

Coach Wasson was asked about the win.

"We have just been talking a lot about being vocal and telling hitters where to hit." Coach Wasson said. "Hitting the ball and having a lot of connection on the floor so that when you are playing defense you are making adjustments quicker. That was our goal this week. We are trying to be a chess-match team."

The duo was not alone as the team also received a boost from Scheffelmear, another starter with plenty of experience. Scheffelmear had 11 kills and a team-leading 14 digs, two aces, as well as the team's lone block.

"Kendall is going to have a good year," Coach Wasson said. "It will be amazing to have two power hitters, but then we have Kendall, who can hit anything in the middle."

The team also welcomes back setter Kennedy Simonson, who registered 40 assists in the team's win over Scobey.

"Kennedy played a couple of rotations last year and got bumped up to having a little more responsibility towards the end of the season," Coach Wasson said. "Now she is playing all the way around."

Coach Wasson also said that Simonson has grown in confidence and has become more vocal thanks in part to the senior class.

"Those seniors are just easy-going," Coach Wasson said. "They don't judge anybody. They help their younger teammates out and it has really progressed us a lot further along than I thought that we would be at this point."

BaiLee McColly, who also logged minutes last season, had 13 digs, eight kills, and four aces.

"BaiLee played a lot last year," Coach Wasson said. "She has got amazing hands, good timing, and her hits, they just keep getting better."

BaiLee's sister CharLee will be stepping into the role of right side hitter.

"CharLee is learning," Coach Wasson said. "She is coming along and she is just a go-getter."

Berkley Hillman had nine digs against Scobey.

"Berkley approached me (at the start of the season) and said that she would really like to work on her defensive end of the game," Coach Wasson said. "She is not a selfish player. She wants to be that person in the back row that wants to dig everything up. We have really been pushing towards that."

Coach Wasson said that Berkley has also worked on her serve and it paid off in the Chinook Tournament, and that she also served well against Harlem last Thursday, which she had two aces.

The scores against Harlem were 25-10, 25-9, and 25-14. Erickson had 10 kills, P. Wasson had eight kills and a team-leading five aces. B. McColly had seven kills, eight digs, and three blocks.

K. Simonson had 20 assists and four digs.

This week, the Mavericks will travel to Froid on Friday, September 15, to take on the Froid Lake Redhawks. The event started with C-Squad at 2 p.m. North Country will then go to Nashua to take on the Lady Porcupines on Saturday, September 16, with games starting at 4 p.m.

2023 Lady Mavs Volleyball

Game Schedule

DATE Opp Location Time JV Time V

Aug. 12 Fri. First Day of Practice

Aug. 25 Fri. R&L Richey 3:00 +20

Aug. 26 Sat. Glendive Tourn. Glendive TBA TBA

Sept. 1 Fri. Plentywood Saco 3:00 +20

Sept. 2 Sat. Chinook Invitational (Var. Only)

Sept. 7 Thurs. Harlem Whitewater 5:00 +20

Sept. 8 Fri. Scobey Hinsdale 4:00 +20

Sept. 15 Fri. Froid/Lake Froid/Lake JH @ 2pm +20 +20

Sept. 16 Sat. Nashua Nashua 4 pm(JH) +20 +20

Sept. 21 Thurs. Malta Whitewater 4:30 +20

Sept. 22 Fri. Bainville Bainville 4:00(JH) +20 +20

Sept. 28 Thurs. Brockton Brockton 5:00(JH) +20

Sept. 30 Sat. Choteau Mid-Season Inv.

Oct. 7 Sat. Lustre Hinsdale 6:00

Oct. 10 Tues. Harlem Harlem 5:00 +20

Oct. 14 Sat. Culbertson Saco 1:00 +20

Oct. 14 Sat. MonDak Saco 5:30 +20

Oct. 17 Tues. Frazer Frazer 5:00

Oct. 18 Wed. Chinook Whitewater 5:00 +20

. 17 Tues. Frazer Frazer 5:00

Oct. 26-28 District 3-C Tournament @ Plentywood

Nov. 2-4 Eastern C Divisional Tournament @ Sidney

Nov. 9-11 State C Tournament @ Bozeman