Hornets outlast D-A; Kidder sweeps

BY LANE MOELLENKAMP

Harvey-Wells County held off a fierce Drake-Anamoose comeback to defeat the Raiders, 3-2, in area girls volleyball on Thursday, September 1, in Harvey.

The Raiders got off to a fast start in game one, with Taryn Sieg picking up three early kills and Rylee Martin connecting on two service aces as they led, 7-2.

Trailing 12-6, the Hornets used two kills from Emma Dockter and a couple of long kill attempts by the Raiders to pull to within 13-11. Sieg picked up her fourth kill, and Martin's third ace to go along with one from Aydryen Felber moved the Drake-Anamoose lead back to 18-11.

The Hornets had one last push in game one, pulling to within two with an Aubree Wolfe kill, but Jamie Lemer served the final three points and Felber ended the game with a kill and the Raiders claimed game one, 25-17.

HWC jumped out quickly in game two, taking a 5-1 lead behind the solid serving of Dockter. The Raiders came back strong, tying the game at seven and then took a 12-9 lead on back-to-back aces from Jamie Lemer. With Kayme Bartz serving, the Hornets pulled to within 15-13 and with four consecutive aces by Dockter, HWC took a 20-17 lead. Larissa Arnold had a block and a kill down the stretch, as the Hornets held on for a 25-22 game two victory.

Game three saw both teams commit errors, something that is common early in the season. The Raiders were dealing with several net serves and service errors, while the Hornets were having attack problems and keeping their kill opportunities in play. The two teams played a close game throughout with no team having a lead of more than two until the end. With the score knotted at 22, the Hornets got kills from Christalea Wagner and then two from Arnold to seal game three, 25-22.

The Hornets got out quickly in the fourth set, with Dockter connecting on back-to-back aces as HWC led, 4-1. The Raiders had a much better time from the service line, with Bailey Clott picking up an ace and Halie Fletschock securing a kill to tie the game at five. The Raiders would score six straight with two kills from Fletschock, as the visitors took a 17-11. Lead.

It didn't take long for HWC to get back into it as Delaney Erfle secured three straight aces and then added a fourth, and Arnold had two kills to tie the game at 17.

Drake-Anamoose scored four straight and then ended game four with an ace from Lemer and a kill from Rylee Martin to win game four, 25-19, and push the match to a deciding game five.

The Raiders jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the final game on a kill and block from Sieg. The Hornets got back into a tie on a kill from Wagner. The Hornets opened the game up scoring six straight with Erfle serving, including an ace and kills from Arnold and Wolfe, as HWC led 9-5.

The teams traded points to finish with a net kill attempt giving the Hornets the 15-8 win.

Arnold led the way for HWC with 15 kills, 15 digs and two blocks. Bartz dished out 24 assists and Dockter had eight aces in the Hornet victory.

Fletschock was the leader in stats for Drake-Anamoose with 12 kills and four blocks, while Sieg had 11 kills and 14 digs. Fahy (17) and Felber (15) combined for 32 aces for the Raiders.

Kidder Co. 3, HWC 0

Kennedy Harter and Avery Rath put together an outstanding night, and the rest of the youthful Wolves played inspired volleyball on both sides of the net as Kidder County ousted HWC in straight sets 25-11, 25-15 and 25-12 in non-region volleyball action in Harvey on September 6.

The Hornets and Wolves started game one playing a very close game. Rath had a kill and followed it up with an ace to help Kidder County to a 9-5 lead. Into play comes the 6'0" senior, Harter, who smashed down four kills in a row to push the lead to eight at 14-6. Harter added two more kills later on and Drew Stroh added an ace as the Wolves coasted to a 25-11 first set victory.

Ashley Keller helped the Hornets get a solid start in game two as the junior had two kills early. Rath found herself in the front row and her teammates fed her some great kill opportunities as the senior added three kills in four points to tie the game at six. An ace by Rath and four kills from Harter midway through blew the game open for Kidder County as they led 16-10. HWC pulled to within seven at 22-15 with the help of an ace from Kali Fike, but another kill from Rath and a net kill attempt by HWC gave the Wolves game two 25-15.

The Hornets once again started strong in game three with a quick 3-0 lead on a couple of hitting errors by the Wolves. Rath again had three kills in five points as Kidder County regained the lead at 7-4. An ace by Delaney Erfle and a kill from Larissa Arnold helped the Hornets regain the lead at 10-9 but an 11-1 run with freshman Taylor Zimmerman serving all but sealed the deal for the Wolves. Harter added three kills late and Rath followed that up with a kill from the back row and an ace for the Wolves' 25-12 win and sweep of the Hornets.

Harter and Rath teamed up to swat down 35 kills while freshman Breanah Pfaff dished out 30 assists. Harter also led Kidder County with 11 digs while Rath had three aces. HWC was led by Keller's five kills and Emma Dockter's 11 digs.

(Editor's Note: Due to space limitations, the Kidder County story was edited in the print edition, but on the online edition, it is printed in full.)

Nonregion Volleyball

HWC 3, Drake-Anamoose 2

at Harvey

D-A 25 22 22 25 8 - 2

HWC 17 25 25 19 15 - 3

HWC Individual Stats

Kills: Larissa Arnold 15, Emma Dockter 9, Aubree Wolfe 7, Ashley Keller 4, Christalea Wagner 3, Kayme Bartz 1.

Aces: Dockter 8, Delaney Erfle 6, Arnold and Wolfe 1.

Assists: Bartz 24, Wolfe 3, Arnold 2, Dockter and Wagner 1.

Blocks: Arnold 2, Wolfe 1.

Digs: Arnold and Dockter 15, Bartz 12, Wagner 9, Wolfe 8, Erfle 7, Keller 1.

D-A Individual Stats

Kills: Halie Fletschock 12, Taryn Sieg 11, Heather Martin 10, Ayrdryen Felber and Jamie Lemer 4, Olivia Fahy 2.

Aces: Martin 5, Lemer 4, Sieg 3, Bailey Clott and Felber 2, Mariah Mack 1.

Assists: Fahy 17, Felber 15, Sieg 3, Clott, Martin and Ava Wagner 1.

Blocks: Fletschock 4, Fahy and Sieg 2, Felber 1.

Digs: Sieg 14, Clott 13, Lemer 10, Felber 6, Fahy and Wagner 3, Martin 2.

Kidder Co. 3, HWC 0

at Fessenden

KC 25 25 25 - 3

HWC 11 15 12 - 0

HWC Individual Stats

Kills: Keller 5, Arnold 4, Wagner 3, Dockter and Rachel Neumiller 2, Wolfe 1.

Aces: Kali Fike 1.

Assists: Bartz 7, Fike 4, Dockter, Wagner and Wolfe 1.

Blocks: Wagner 1.

Digs: Dockter 11, Bartz and Erfle 6, Arnold and Haldorson 4, Fike, Keller, Wagner and Wolfe 1.

Kidder Co. Individual Stats

Kills: Kennedy Harter 21, Avery Rath 14, Taylor Zimmerman 2, Drew Stroh 1.

Aces: Rath 3, Breanah Pfaff and Stroh 1.

Assists: Pfaff 30, Harter 3, Sidney Moch, Rath and Zimmerman 1.

Blocks: Zimmerman 2, Harter, Moch, Pfaff and Rath 1.

Digs: Harter 11, Rath and Kylee Rohrich 10, Pfaff, Stroh and Zimmerman 4.