Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
McKayla Waldo, #10, and Kelsie Belquist, #3, at the net blocking against Griggs/Midkota's middle hitter, Asia Becherl.
Varsity players Kaiya O'Connor and Delana Thomas bust a move while McKayla Waldo and Madi Myhre high five after a Rocket win.
Griggs/Midkota libero, Janae Johnson received her 1,000th dig at the game in Binford on Monday evening. Janae is pictured above with her coach, Kathleen Eggermont.
The Midkota Elementary Gym in Binford was the site of one of the most tightly-contested matches the area has witnessed this fall last Monday night, October 26.
Griggs/Midkota held on to a 2-0 lead after the first two sets, but the NR-S Rockets got the last word in with three-set triumphs to take a big 3-2 non-region victory by scores of 22-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-23 and 15-9.
The Rockets' Kayahna Hopfauf finished with 17 kills and Chloe Heinz hit for 11 more to offset a 27-kill evening by Griggs/Midkota's Jenna Larson in defeat. Freshman Kelsie Belquist also made an impact with nine kills.
Hopfauf's above-the-net defensive game was showcased with three blocks in NR-S' column, and setter Dani Bjerke had 44 assists and three aces along with Hopfauf on the back line.
The teams' respective liberos were busy all night long, as Cassie Longnecker finished with 28 digs for NR-S and Janae Johnson had 30 for the Titans. Emma Kollman added 24 to help Griggs/Midkota's cause.
The Titans had a valiant supporting effort by Asia Becherl in defeat, as she had 15 kills and six blocks. Kennedy Hanneson posted stat lines of 10 kills and three blocks, tied with Larson in the latter category.
Jaycee Andel had 36 assists for Griggs/Midkota, whose regular season ended at 4-11 with the loss. The fourth-seeded Titans hosted fifth seed Ellendale in their first match of the District 5 Tournament this last Thursday in Cooperstown.
NR-S (8-5 overall) finished their Super Region 4 schedule with a slew of matches, the last two of which come today (November 2) and tomorrow against Nelson County and North Star.
Should the Rockets finish in the top six seeds, they will avoid the play-in round, which would start on Thursday, November 5. The winners of the #7/#10 seed games that day would play at the number two seed in the second round of play on Tuesday, November 10, while the #8/#9 winner would travel to the number one seed. Additional round two matchups would pit the #6 at #3, and #5 at #4.
Semifinal round play would be held on November 12, with championship night Saturday, November 14, at the highest seed's home court.
Non-region Volleyball
NR-S 3, Griggs/Midkota 2
at Binford
NR-S 22 23 25 25 15 - 3
G-M 25 25 21 23 9 - 2
NR-S Stats
Kills: Kayahna Hopfauf 17, Chloe Heinz 11, Kelsie Belquist 9, Dani Bjerke and McKayla Waldo 4, Mya Cudworth 3, Kennedy Demester and Cassie Longnecker 1.
Assists: Bjerke 44, Cudworth 2, Belquist, Hopfauf and Longnecker 1.
Aces: Bjerke and Hopfauf 3, Cudworth, Heinz and Longnecker 2, Demester 1.
Blocks: Hopfauf 3, Belquist, Bjerke, Cudworth and Madisen Myhre 1.
Digs: Longnecker 28, Heinz 18, Cudworth 13, Bjerke and Demester 9, Hopfauf 5, Belquist 4, Waldo 1.
Griggs/Midkota Stats
Kills: Jenna Larson 27, Asia Becherl 15, Kennedy Hanneson 10, Josie Johnson 5, Emma Kollman 3, Jaycee Andel 2.
Assists: Andel 36, Medora Brandner 22, Hanneson 1.
Aces: Larson 1.
Blocks: Becherl 6, Hanneson and Larson 3, Lauryn Halvorson 1.
Digs: Janae Johnson 30, Kollman 24, Andel 17, Brandner and Hanneson 7, Jo. Johnson, Larson and Shayla Rickford 5.
Junior Varsity
NR-S 2, Griggs/Midkota 0
(25-21, 25-16)
C-Squad
NR-S 2, Griggs/Midkota 0
(25-22, 25-16)
Junior High
NR-S 2, Griggs/Midkota 0
(25-16, 25-17)
