Injury mars M/P-B's semifinal loss to South Prairie/Max

One of the great "what-ifs" of the 2024 State Class B Volleyball Tournament for M/P-B came to pass in the semifinal round Friday night, Nov. 22, against the South Prairie/Max Royals.

That being, what a healthy Maddie Gefroh would have done for their advancement prospects.

Gefroh, the senior leader, injured her right knee on just the third point of the evening, sidelining one of the Thunder's top attackers and undeniably their best blocker.

While they withstood that stroke of bad luck in the first set with a 25-13 win, it was all Royals from the second set on, 21-25, 20-25 and 17-25, in a matchup of two programs making their first-ever state tournament appearance.

M/P-B made use of numerous SP/M attack errors in set one, but once the Royals and Coach Keturah Schwarzrock adjusted their game plan, it was rough sailing.

Much of that was feeding the ball to athletic standout Azjiah Trader, and the 5'8" powerhouse hitter drove the ball through the now-diminshed M/P-B block.

Trader would finish with 20 kills in the match, with teammates Skotti Beck and Keira Francis each going for eight in the Friday evening victory.

With Gefroh out, the lion's share of the offense rested on Brynn Sorenson's shoulders, and she had success at times with 13 kills. At the net, Shayla Martin saw increased action with three blocks.

Jorgen Tripp picked up the slack as well with 10 kills in the loss, and Destiny Opp added six.

The barrage of offense from Trader put the dig numbers for M/P-B at a high rate, and Sorenson was the leader in that category with 22. Violet Bohl had 21 digs to go along with 35 assists, and Cierra Mack added 18 digs and Savannah Reister 16.

Bohl finished with three aces as well for M/P-B, who fell to the third place match against Thompson on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 23.

Royals freshman setter Reagan Trudell showed that youth and big-match inexperience were not a deterrent to success, as she finished with 38 assists.

In back, libero Delaney Hankel was the top back row force with 20 digs for SP/M, and she also struck some well-placed serves with four aces to lead the Royals.

Abby Mikkelson, along with Trader, combined for five blocks to lead South Prairie/Max.

SP/M would sweep the top individual honors following the state tournament, as Trader was named the Class B Senior Athlete and Schwarzrock Class B Coach of the Year.

State Class B Volleyball

Tournament, Fargodome

Semifinals

South Prairie/Max 3, M/P-B 1

M/P-B 25 21 20 17 ­ - 1

SP/M 13 25 25 25 - 3

M/P-B Individual Stats

Kills: Brynn Sorenson 13, Jorgen Tripp 10, Destiny Opp 6, Violet Bohl 4, Shayla Martin 2.

Assists: Bohl 35, Cierra Mack 3, Samantha Reister, Sorenson and Tripp 1.

Aces: Bohl 3, Samantha Reister and Tripp 1.

Blocks: Martin 3, Opp and Tripp 1.

Digs: Sorenson 22, Bohl 21, Mack 18, Savannah Reister 16, Samantha Reister 12, Tripp 9, Maddie Nagel 3, Opp 1.

SP/M Individual Stats

Kills: Azjiah Trader 20, Skotti Beck and Keira Francis 8, Skylar Beck 6, Abby Mikkelson 4, Reagan Trudell 1.

Assists: Trudell 38, Delaney Hankel 2, Mikkelson 1.

Aces: Hankel 4, Hailey Sys 2, Francis 1.

Blocks: Mikkelson 3, Trader 2, Skotti Beck and Trudell 1.

Digs: Hankel 20, Sys 8, Trudell 7, Amber Braasch 6, Francis 5, Skotti Beck 4, Skylar Beck 3, Mikkelson 1.