Tommies take down Rockets in three

The New Rockford-Sheyenne Rockets' volleyball team hosted the Thompson Tommies in their season opener game on Tuesday, August 30.

This season looks quite different for the Rockets. Not only were they sporting their new jerseys, but there's also quite a few less girls on the bench. The team is made up of only eight girls, between the grades of 8-12.

Although the team may be small, these girls play well together. The first set of the varsity game ended with Thompson winning 25-16. But this team came back fighting.

Second set came around and the Rockets were neck-and-neck with the Tommies. NR-S junior, Kelsie Belquist, went kill after kill, to bring the score to 22-22. After rallying back and forth for what seemed to be forever, the Tommies defeated the Rockets 28-26.

Set three looked a lot like the first, with the Tommies taking down the Rockets 25-14.

The Rockets have a few varsity players back on the court from last year, namely Belquist, Madisen Myhre, Kaiya O'Connor and Ava Peterson.

Belquist started her year off with a high note, by excelling in both hitting and digging. Belquist led the team with 17 kills, along with 13 digs. Belquist and Lucy Meier held the most aces for the team, with two each.

As for the Tommies, Summer Hegg held the most kills, with 15 overall.

Along with varsity, both b-squad and c-squad teams were also defeated by the Tommies. B-squad went 25-10, 25-4, and 15-10. C-squad lost the first set 25-6, but came back in the second set to defeat the Tommies 29-27. The third and final set was taken by the Tommies by five points.

The Rockets will travel to Pingree on Tuesday, September 6 to take on the Medina/Pingree-Buchanan Thunder (A,B,C,JH) starting at 4 p.m. On Thursday, September 8, the Rockets will host the Barnes County North Bison (A,B,JH), starting with junior high at 5 p.m.

The junior high volleyball team will compete in the Carrington junior high tournament on Saturday, September 10.

Non-Region Volleyball

Tuesday, August 30

NR-S 0, Thompson 3

at New Rockford

NR-S: 16 26 14 - 0

Thompson: 25 28 25 - 3

NR-S Stats

Aces: Kelsie Belquist 2, Lucy Meier 2, Ava Peterson 1, Kaiya O'Connor 1, Madisen Myhre 1, Kyria Dockter 1.

Kills: Belquist 17, Peterson 5, Myhre 2, Meier 1.

Assists: O'Connor 20, Peterson 4.

Digs: Belquist 13, Dockter 12, Meier 12, O'Connor 7, Peterson 3.

Thompson Stats

Aces: Alexis Olson 2, Sydney Schwabe 1.

Kills: Summer Hegg 15, Brenna Martin 8, Clara Stevens 7, Reese Danner 3, Olson 2.

Blocks: Hegg 3.5, Martin 1.5, Stevens 2, Danner 0.5, Huebner 0.5.

Assists: Josie Plain 18, Schwabe 16, Martin 2, Huebner 2.

Digs: Jordan West 13, Olson 9, Schwabe 6, Plain 4, Stevens 4, Martin 3, Danner 2, Kya Hurst 1.

B-Squad

NR-S 0, Thompson 3

NR-S: 10 4 10 - 0

Thompson: 25 25 15 - 3

C-Squad

NR-S 1, Thompson 2

NR-S: 6 29 10 - 1

Thompson: 25 27 15 - 2