Hornets take brooms to D-A

Braylee Keller had 11 kills and 20 digs, helping Harvey-Wells County to a 3-0 sweep over Drake-Anamoose in a non-region girls volleyball game in Harvey on Thursday, September 5.

The Raiders took an early lead in the opening game with kills from MaKayla Miiller and Mariah Mack. An 8-0 run with kills from Keller and Taylor Nelson, along with back-to-back aces from Brooklyn Dockter, gave the Hornets a 9-4 lead. Both teams struggled with their service games midway through the set, allowing the Raiders to pull within one at 14-13. Another Dockter ace gave HWC a three-point lead, but a kill from Shaylee Hase knotted the game at 17. A six-point run from the Hornets came via kills from Nelson and Christalea Wagner and moved the lead to 23-17, and the Hornets finished game one with a kill from Rachel Neumiller, giving HWC the 25-18 win.

A quick start from HWC in the second resulted in two kills and an ace from Keller, giving the Hornets a 7-1 lead. An ace from Mack and a kill from Evelyn Isaak cut the lead to 8-6. Dockter once again had two aces in a row for HWC, and was followed by two kills from Keller as the Hornet lead grew to 15-9. A Mack kill and ace from Bailey Clott was the last real threat the Raiders had in game two, as the Hornets went on to another 25-18 victory.

Set three was a tale of two different games. Wagner had two kills early for HWC, but those were answered by a kill from Mack and several service errors from the Hornets. Trailing 10-8, the Hornets rattled off 11 straight points with two kills each from Keller and Wagner and two aces from Neumiller. With a comfortable 19-11 lead, the Hornets appeared ready for victory, but the Raiders had other plans making a great comeback. A kill from Mack and an ace from Isaak was followed by another ace from Clott and the HWC lead was cut to 20-18.

Keller added a kill and an ace to move the lead back to 22-18, but two net kill misses for HWC knotted the score at 22. Two quick points from HWC were matched by kills from Mack and Isaak and the game was now locked again at 24. A kill from Neumiller was followed by a net kill attempt by Drake-Anamoose and Harvey secured the game, 26-24, and the match, 3-0.

Kali Fike was outstanding in the game, dishing out 24 assists and being part of 28 Hornet kills. Dockter had five aces to pace the HWC serving game. The Raiders were led by Mack, who had 14 of D-A's 28 kills, and Clott and Bella Boucher, who had 21 and 15 digs, respectively.

The win was the first of the year for the Hornets, who moved to 1-1, while the loss dropped the Raiders to 1-1 overall.

Bottineau Early Bird

Saturday, September 7, saw the Hornets participate in the Bottineau Early Bird Tournament, where they went 2-2 on the day.

HWC went 2-0 in pool play with a 25-16 and 25-22 win over Bottineau and a 25-13 and 25-14 win over Dunseith. The Hornets then went into tournament play, where they were defeated by Surrey, 25-24 and 25-17, and then split (but lost in total points) with Westhope/Newburg, 12-25 and 25-21.

The Hornets played well all day except for one set during the Westhope/Newburg match. HWC served well on the day with a 96% serving rate.

According to coach Kristi Fike, the setters and hitters were connecting well, and they will need to work on their defense and block a little more to find more success at the net.

Nonregion Volleyball

HWC 3, Drake-Anamoose 0

at Harvey

D-A 18 18 24 ­ - 0

HWC 25 25 26 ­ - 3

HWC Individual Stats

Kills: Braylee Keller 11, Rachel Neumiller 8, Christalea Wagner 6, Taylor Nelson 3.

Assists: Kali Fike 24, Nelson 1.

Aces: Brooklyn Dockter 5, Keller and Neumiller 2, Wagner 1.

Blocks: Keller 2, Nelson, Maci Reutter and Wagner 1.

Digs: Keller 20, Dockter 9, Fike 8, Neumiller and Wagner 7, Nelson 6, Ella Allmaras 3, Reutter 1.

D-A Individual Stats

Kills: Mariah Mack 14, Shaylee Hase 6, Evelyn Isaak 5, Olivia Fahy, MaKayla Miiller and Ava Wagner 1.

Assists: Fahy 11, Bella Boucher 9, Bailey Clott, Hase and Wagner 2.

Aces: Clott 2, Isaak and Mack 1.

Blocks: Boucher, Hase, Miiller and Wagner 1.

Digs: Clott 21, Boucher 15, Isaak 8, Fahy and Mack 7, Hase 4, Miiller and Wagner 1.

Bottineau Early Bird

Saturday, September 7

Pool Play

HWC def. Bottineau, 25-16, 25-22; HWC def. Dunseith, 25-13, 25-14

Tournament Play

Surrey def. HWC, 24-25, 17-25; Westhope/Newburg def. HWC, 1-1 (12-25, 25-21; W/N wins on points)