HWC blanks Washburn, falls to NR-S

Harvey-Wells County started the week picking up their third consecutive win, as they defeated Washburn and ended the week with a regional loss to New Rockford-Sheyenne.

The Hornets' three-game win streak included two five set victories, but the two games this week were shorter as they defeated the Cardinals in three straight and fell to the Rockets in four games.

HWC 3, Washburn 0

HWC picked up another big win, as they held off a couple of Washburn rallies to come away with a 25-17, 25-16, 25-13 sweep of the Cardinals in Harvey on Tuesday, September 24.

Braylee Keller got the Hornets off to a great start in the opening game, as the sophomore had four consecutive aces to help the Hornets to a 7-1 advantage. Christalea Wagner, Taylor Nelson and Rachel Neumiller added two kills each, as the HWC lead grew to 14-4. The Cardinals got four kills in a row from junior Maggie Jennings to cut the lead to just 18-16, but a Hornet timeout restored order with Nelson hammering home two more kills and Neumiller ending the set with a kill as HWC finished on a 7-1 run to win, 25-17.

The second set was a copy of the first. The Hornets, behind three kills from Nelson and two from Wagner as well as two aces from Keller, jumped out to a huge 12-2 lead. A block and ace from Sadie Goven and a kill from Claire Fischer cut the lead to 15-10 before the Hornets rebounded to go back up by eight at 19-11. Mae Jennings' ace and Maggie Jennings' kill brought the Cardinals back to within four at 19-15, but HWC once again finished strong with kills from Rylee Jones, Wagner, and Keller before Keller ended the game on an ace at 25-16.

It was the Cardinals with the hot start in the third set, as they opened up a 4-0 lead on the back of a Maggie Jennings block and some HWC attack errors. Back-to-back aces from Keller quickly helped knot the score at four. The two teams traded points as the game was tied three times before the Hornets opened up a big lead. Neumiller recorded three kills in four points, and Kali Fike added two kills to go along with an ace from Wagner, giving HWC an 18-10 lead. The Cardinals did not have a comeback attempt in this game, as the Hornets put their foot to the floor cruising to a 25-13 set three win and 3-0 match victory.

NR-S 3, HWC 1

Ava Peterson recorded 29 kills, and Kaiya O'Connor dished out 29 assists as the Rockets dealt the Hornets a 3-1 loss in Fessenden on Thursday, September 26.

The Rocket hitters were on fire from the start in this regional matchup, and Peterson was the main recipient of the assists. The junior recorded seven kills in game one, 13 in game two and six more in game three helping the Rockets to their second win in a row and second on the season.

Peterson hit three kills and an ace early in game one, helping NR-S to a 9-5 lead. Two kills from Jaida Schumacher and an ace from O'Connor moved the lead to six midway through the set. HWC was never able to string together points in the opener, and the Rockets took advantage of that. Peterson added four kills in the final eight points for the 25-11 victory.

Peterson started game two right where she left off in game one, as she had three kills in the first four points. The Hornets battled back with an ace from Keller and a kill from Wagner to tie the game at four. HWC kept things close with kills from Nelson and Rylee Jones. The Hornets fought hard for points, but Peterson recorded an incredible nine kills in the final 12 points to lift the Rockets to a 25-18 game two victory.

The Hornets took the momentum in game three and ran with it. A quick 12-2 start was courtesy of two aces from Fike and two kills from Wagner to go along with several attack errors from NR-S. Peterson rattled off four consecutive kills to pull the Rockets to within 13-8, but kills from Neumiller and Keller stopped the run and moved the HWC lead to 19-12. Emmie Belqiust and Peterson added kills late to cut the HWC lead to 21-17, but the Hornets ended with a flurry which included a kill from Wagner, ace from Keller and kill from Maci Reutter to give HWC a 25-19 game three win.

Game four turned out to be the final game of the night, as the Rockets exploded to a 12-3 lead with most of the NR-S players chipping in one way or another. An ace and a kill from O'Connor pushed the Rocket lead to 16-5, but the Hornets mounted a great rally midway through as they cut the lead to 19-15 with kills from Fike, Keller and Neumiller. The NR-S lead was just one at 20-19, but the Rockets took advantage of several HWC mistakes down the stretch to score the final five points and win the game, 25-19, and match, 3-1.

Statistically, Peterson was dominant for NR-S with 29 kills, two aces, 13 digs and a block. O'Connor's passing was spot on, as she tallied 29 of the Rockets' 35 assists. Logan Cudworth led in aces with five and digs with 15, while Bailey Jacobson and O'Connor each tallied 12 digs. The Hornets got seven kills from Keller and five from Wagner while Fike dished out 18 assists. Neumiller and Keller each recorded 13 digs on the night.

The loss dropped HWC to 6-3 overall, while the win moved NRS to 2-4 on the season.

Shiloh Tournament

The HWC volleyball team traveled to Bismarck on Saturday, October 28 to participate in the Shiloh Christian Invite. After playing four games in pool play and two games in tournament play, the Hornets went 4-1-1 on the day, earning a second place finish.

The Hornets defeated Strasburg-Zeeland, Standing Rock and Wilton-Wing and split with Shiloh Christian in pool play, and then defeated Wilton-Wing and dropped the championship game in three sets to Shiloh to earn the second place finish.

According to coach Kristi Fike, the girls had a really good day and played at their best so far this year in the first set of the championship game against Shiloh.

Nonregion Volleyball

HWC 3, Washburn 0

at Harvey

Wash. 17 16 13 ­ - 0

HWC 25 25 25 ­ - 3

Statistics not available.

Super Region 4 Volleyball

NR-S 3, HWC 1

at Fessenden

NR-S 25 25 19 25 ­- 3

HWC 11 18 25 19 ­- 1

HWC Individual Statistics

Kills: Braylee Keller 7, Christalea Wagner 5, Taylor Nelson and Rachel Neumiller 4, Kali Fike, Rylee Jones and Maci Reutter 1.

Aces: Fike and Keller 2.

Assists: Fike 18, Brooklyn Dockter 3.

Blocks: Keller 1.

Digs: Keller and Neumiller 13, Fike 12, Dockter 11, Reutter 7, Wagner 6, Nelson 2.

NR-S Individual Statistics

Kills: Ava Peterson 29, Emmie Belquist 5, Jaida Schumacher 4, Kaiya O'Connor 1.

Aces: Logan Cudworth 5, O'Connor 3, Peterson 2, Belquist 1.

Assists: O'Connor 29, Belquist and Peterson 2, Cudworth and Tillie Swart 1.

Digs: Cudworth 15, Peterson 13, Bailey Jacobson and O'Connor 12, Belquist 8, Schumacher 4, Swart 3.

Blocks: Ava Bullinger, O'Connor, Peterson and Swart 1.

Shiloh Tournament Cumulative Statistics:

Kills: Keller 38, Neumiller 30, Nelson 22, Wagner 15, Jones 7, Fike 6.

Aces: Fike 17, Keller 14, Wagner 13, Ella Allmaras and Dockter 6, Nelson and Neumiller 3, Jones 1.

Assists: Fike 101, Jones 2, Allmaras, Nelson, Neumiller, Reutter and Wagner 1.