HWC defeats Rugby, falls to L/E/M

Harvey-Wells County saw both sides of the spectrum in recent volleyball action as they rose to the challenge and defeated the Rugby Panthers for the first time in many, many years.

The momentum earned from the big win over Rugby was not enough to challenge one of the state's best teams, though, as Langdon/Edmore/Munich cruised to a 3-0 sweep of HWC in Harvey.

HWC 3, Rugby 0

HWC came out on fire with two decisive victories and a come from behind effort in a three-game sweep over the visiting Rugby Panthers on Tuesday, October 10, at Harvey.

Game one was a game of streaks, as the Hornets opened up a quick 5-1 lead on an ace from Rylee Jones and kill from Braylee Keller. The Panthers then scored six straight, with Brylee Amyotte serving and Lacie Deplazes at the net as the Panthers went ahead, 7-5. HWC stormed back, and with Taylor Nelson serving, scored six straight to lead, 16-8. The Panthers did not have an answer for the Hornet run, as Braylee Keller smashed down a couple of kills late to help lift HWC to a 25-12 win.

The Panthers got out to an early lead in game two, taking a 9-5 lead. Ashley Keller had three aces in a row to tie the game at nine, but Rugby answered with three straight. Braylee Keller had three consecutive kills to move HWC ahead, 13-12. The two teams traded points for the rest of the game in a close contest. HWC trailed 22-20 when Kali Fike served up an ace to help tie the game at 22 and an eventual 24-22 lead. Rugby tied at 24 before the Hornets put an end to the set, 26-24.

Game three, even though not close on the scoreboard, exhibited a lot of good rallies by both teams. Tied at four, HWC got a kill from Nelson and an ace from Braylee Keller to go ahead 8-4, a lead that the Hornets would not give up. With Nelson serving, HWC got seven straight points and went up 15-5. Back-to-back kills from Ashley Keller moved the lead to 21-8, and Fike ended the night for both teams as the sophomore's kill made the final score 25-13.

Statistical leaders for HWC included Braylee Keller with nine kills, Nelson with two blocks, Ashley Keller with six kills, and Fike with 24 assists and 10 digs. Deplazes led Rugby with 13 kills and 13 digs.

With the win, HWC moves to 8-3 during the regular season, while the Panthers drop to 3-8 during the same time period.

L/E/M 3, HWC 0

Class B volleyball's second-ranked team came into Harvey and showed some reasons why the ranking was accurate, as they made quick work of defeating the Hornets in straight sets on Thursday, October 12.

L/E/M ran their record to 28-4 on the season, and only trail Dickinson Trinity in the most recent Class B volleyball poll put out on October 10.

The Cardinals got off to a great start, as 6'3" Cora Badding had three kills in a 6-0 run early in the first set. HWC got a kill from Rachel Neumiller on a 3-0 run, but L/E/M's 9-3 run moved the lead to 15-7. Two kills from Jaya Henderson and two more from Claire Chaput moved the lead to 21-9, and Badding finished off HWC with two more kills to end game one, 25-10.

Henderson started with the serve in game two for L/E/M, and promptly served 10 straight points as the Cardinals led, 10-0. Braylee Keller had two kills to make the score 14-5, but the combination of Henderson and Jalynn Swanson gave L/E/M a 20-10 lead. HWC got two kills from Ashley Keller and another from Fike, but Badding once again had a kill to help end the second set, 25-13.

HWC got a great start in set three, going out early, 5-1. Tallia Johnston served five straight points, including three service aces in a row, as the Cardinals tied and moved past HWC, 9-5. The Hornets could not keep up with the highly-regarded Cardinals as they outscored HWC, 19-4, to lead 20-9. The Hornets had a late game surge with kills from Ebony Heilman, Braylee Keller and two from Rachel Neumiller, but the game ended with LAEM on top 25-14.

Badding and Henderson combined for 25 kills for the Cardinals, while HWC had four kills each from Neumiller and Braylee Keller. LAEM had 13 blocked shots from the much taller Cardinals and also had three aces from Johnston and 28 assists from Swanson.

Christalea Wagner led HWC with 11 digs, while Henderson had 13 for L/E/M in the victory.

Nonregion Volleyball

HWC 3, Rugby 0

at Harvey

Rugby 12 24 13 - 0

HWC 25 26 25 - 3

HWC Individual Statistics

Kills: Braylee Keller 9, Ashley Keller and Rachel Neumiller 6, Kali Fike and Taylor Nelson 5, Christalea Wagner 2, Rylee Jones 1.

Blocks: Nelson 2, A. Keller and B. Keller 1.

Aces: A. Keller 6, Fike, B. Keller and Nelson 2, Jones and Neumiller 1.

Assists: Fike 24, Brooklyn Dockter 2, Ava Haldorson, Jones, A. Keller and Nelson 1.

Digs: Fike 10, Haldorson and B. Keller 7, A. Keller and Neumiller 5, Dockter, Jones and Wagner 4, Nelson and Maci Reutter 2, Ebony Heilman 1.

Rugby Individual Statistics

Kills: Lacie Deplazes 13, Alli Blessum, Brylee Amyotte and Reese Gullickson 2, Samantha Blessum, Ava Jacobson and Hailey Solem 1.

Blocks: Deplazes 1.

Aces: Amyotte, Solem and Jesse Wolf 1.

Assists: Wolf 10, Kaedyn DeMontigny 7, Amyotte, Gullickson and Kate Sullivan 1.

Digs: Deplazes 13, Solem 10, Taylor Pritschet and Wolf 9, Amyotte 7, DeMontigny 4, A. Blessum 3, Trista Hamilton 2, Gullickson 1.

Super Region 4 Volleyball

Langdon/Edmore/Munich 3, Rugby 0

at Harvey

L/E/M 25 25 25 - 3

HWC 10 13 14 - 0

HWC Individual Statistics

Kills: B. Keller and Neumiller 4, A. Keller 3, Dockter, Fike, Heilman, Jones, Reutter and Wagner 1.

Blocks: B. Keller 1.

Aces: B. Keller 1.

Assists: Fike 11, Neumiller 3, Haldorson and Wagner 1.

Digs: Wagner 11, Fike and Neumiller 9, Haldorson 7, Dockter and B. Keller 6, Reutter 4, Jones 2, Heilman, A. Keller and Nelson 1.

L/E/M Individual Statistics

Kills: Cora Badding 15, Jaya Henderson 10, Jalynn Swanson 6, Claire Chaput 5, Aubrey Badding 3.

Blocks: A. Badding 4, C. Badding, Henderson and Swanson 3.

Aces: Tallia Johnston 3, Henderson and Meredith Romfo 1.

Assists: Swanson 28, Romfo 3, A. Badding and Henderson 2.

Digs: Henderson 13, Romfo 12, C. Badding and Swanson 10, Johnston 2, Chaput and Payton Hall 1.