Rockets defeat Spoilers

The final regular season game has come and gone for the New Rockford-Sheyenne volleyball team. The Rockets hosted the Region 2 Grafton Spoilers on Tuesday, Oct. 31.

With this being the last game held in the NR-S gymnasium for the season, the three NR-S seniors were recognized before the start of the varsity game. Congratulations to Kelsie Belquist, Lucy Meier and Lora Wobbema on their volleyball career with the Rockets and good luck on your future endeavors!

With the Spoilers season record being 17-9, the Rockets knew this wouldn't be an easy team to beat.

The Rockets had a rocky start in the first set. At one point, the Spoilers were leading the Rockets 18-8. But have no fear, the Rockets began to fight back.

K. Belquist, Meier and Ava Peterson all put up big kills for the Rockets to bring the team back to life. The score was finally tied up at 21-21. After an ace was scored by NR-S junior Kaiya O'Connor, the Spoilers called for a timeout. They weren't ready to let the Rockets take them down.

They continued to fight as the teams rallied back and forth. The Rockets were ahead 24-22, only needing one point, until Grafton middle hitter Claire Olson tapped the ball over the net to score. And with an error by Peterson for the Rockets, the score was tied up once again.

The Spoilers answered with another kill, this time by outside hitter Siri Olson. But the next point was lost with a hitting error on Annelise Presteng, to tie the score up once again at 25-25.

A tip over the net by Peterson, followed by a passing error from the Spoilers, allowed the Rockets to take set one 27-25.

Set two started off different, with the Rockets taking a six point lead. But it wasn't long before the Spoilers started to make a comeback.

The Spoilers came out on top in the second set, taking a 25-21 win.

Sets three and four were also close sets for both teams, but the Rockets came away victorious with scores of 25-21 and 25-23.

The Rockets had many athletes in double digits in digs and kills. K. Belquist led the team in both, with 32 digs and 25 kills. Also getting double digits in digs was Peterson with 28, O'Connor with 22, Logan Cudworth 18 and Emmie Belquist with 16.

As for kills, Lora Wobbema and Peterson each secured 10.

The b-squad and c-squad teams finished their season with tough losses to the Spoilers.

The Rockets will head into the Region 4 Volleyball Tournament as the number two seed. The Rockets will take on the winner of the first round game between the No. 7 seed Nelson County Chargers, and the No. 10 seed, the Four Winds-Minnewaukan Indians, on Monday, Nov. 6 at the Devils Lake Sports Center. The bracket can be found on our website and Facebook page.

Good luck in the post-season, Rockets!

Nonregion Volleyball

NR-S 3, Grafton 1

Tuesday, October 31

in New Rockford

NR-S: 27 21 25 25 - 3

Grafton: 25 25 21 23 - 1

NR-S Individual Stats:

Aces: Emmie Belquist 2, Kaiya O'Connor 2, Logan Cudworth 1, Kelsie Belquist 1, Lucy Meier 1.

Assists: O'Connor 47, K. Belquist 2, Ava Peterson 2, E. Belquist 1, Lora Wobbema 1.

Blocks: K. Belquist 5, Meier 2, O'Connor 2, Wobbema 1.

Digs: K. Belquist 32, Peterson 28, O'Connor 22, Cudworth 18, E. Belquist 16, Meier 2, Wobbema 1.

Kills: K. Belquist 25, Wobbema 10, Peterson 10, E. Belquist 5, O'Connor 4, Meier 3.

B-Squad

NR-S 0, Grafton 2

(17-25, 18-25)

C-Squad

NR-S 1, Grafton 2

(21-25, 25-21, 8-15)