Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Two hard-fought losses in Super Region 4 play for the NR-S Rockets have knocked them into the unenviable position of having to play in one of the four play-in matches this past Friday night.
Having sat in the top four spots for much of the season, the Rockets took a marathon 3-2 (18-25, 21-25, 25-17, 25-14, 10-15) loss to Rolla on Oct. 31, then fell to league second place team North Star in four sets (25-22, 22-25, 16-25, 15-25) in a Friday night, Nov. 1 make-up match from Oct. 15.
Those defeats helped both Rolla and Benson County to solidify the third and fourth seeds and automatic bids to the Region 4 Tournament in Devils Lake beginning today (Nov. 11). Langdon/Edmore/Munich and North Star took the top two spots, with L/E/M defeating the Bearcats last Monday night.
With the results of those matches, NR-S sported a 5-4 Region 4 record (10-8 in regional points) and sat at 11-16 overall pending their final two conference matches with Dakota Prairie (see related article) and Dunseith this last Tuesday.
Coach Sara Myhre highlighted the play of junior outside hitter Kayahna Hopfauf in the Rolla loss, as she put together a big stat line of 20 kills and seven stuff blocks. Senior Hannah Haley provided 10 kills for the Rockets, and played her usual consistent presence in the back row with 13 digs.
Dani Bjerke had 43 assists, and Cassie Longnecker 33 digs for NR-S versus Rolla. In addition, Kindra Jacobson had four aces.
Hopfauf was again the top attacker against North Star, going for 11 kills, but the most eye-opening statistic in the defeat against the Bearcats was McKayla Waldo’s eight blocks. Hopfauf and sophomore Mya Cudworth contributed four stuffs each.
Longnecker, the Rockets’ libero, had 22 digs to lead the team, while Bjerke finished with 24 assists.
Super Region 4 Volleyball
Rolla 3, NR-S 2 at Rolla
NR-S 18 21 25 25 10 — 2
Rolla 25 25 17 14 15 — 3
NR-S Stats
Kills: Kayahna Hopfauf 20, Hannah Haley 10, McKayla Waldo 9, Chloe Heinz 7, Mya Cudworth 4, Cassie Longnecker and Brianna Price 2.
Aces: Kindra Jacobson 4, Dani Bjerke 1.
Assists: Bjerke 43, Heinz 4, Cudworth 3.
Blocks: Hopfauf 7, Cudworth 5, Waldo 4, Heinz and Price 2, Haley 1.
Digs: Longnecker 33, Haley 13, Bjerke 5, Kennedy Demester 3, Kenna Munson and Waldo 2, Heinz, Hopfauf and Jacobson 1.
North Star 3, NR-S 1 at New Rockford
N. Star 22 25 25 25 — 3
NR-S 25 22 16 15 — 1
NR-S Stats
Kills: Hopfauf 11, Haley 5, Cudworth 3, Heinz, Price and Waldo 2.
Aces: Longnecker 2, Jacobson 1.
Assists: Bjerke 24, Heinz 1.
Blocks: Waldo 8, Cudworth and Hopfauf 4, Heinz 1.
Digs: Longnecker 22, Demester 6, Munson 3, Bjerke 2, Haley and Hopfauf 1.