Claws come out during battle at Benson County

The Rockets traveled to Maddock on Tuesday, Sept. 28 to take on Super Region 4 competitors, the Benson County Wildcats, in their home gym. The Rockets rallied hard and brought home a 3-2 win against the Wildcats.

The first set of the night was very rocky for the Rockets. Between hits going out of bounds, multiple errors and simply not covering the hitters or blockers, the Wildcats snuck away with a 25-20 win.

The second set gave the Rocket fans some hope. With Kelsie Belquist being hot on her hitting, the Rockets pulled away with a 25-18 win in the second set.

Did you really think Benson County was going to give up that easily? The answer to that question was definitely no. The Wildcats didn't back down and fought for a 25-22 win.

After losing the third set, the Rockets finally realized they needed to play like a team. Hits then began to stay in bounds and count towards kills. The Rockets started covering the hitters and blockers to dig up those multiple short hits and tips. The Rockets were able to battle out the fourth set and walk away with a 25-23 win.

The fifth and final set of the night. It was a toss up who was going to walk away with this win. The Rockets served first and rallied until Madisen Myhre was in the net, which gave the Wildcats their first point of the fifth set. With an error on Wildcats setter Hailey Maddock, the Rockets would get the ball back. Belquist put down two kills for the Rockets to bring the score 3-1. The Wildcats received the ball back due to an error on Kennedy Demester. The Rockets and Wildcats began to rally back and forth until the score was 7-8, with the Wildcats winning by one. With eight serves in a row by Kaiya O'Connor, the Rockets were able to walk out of the Maddock High School gymnasium victorious.

Belquist held the most kills for the Rockets with 22. Mya Cudworth was also in double digits for the Rockets with 12 kills.

Belquist also led the Rockets in digs with 38. Also in double digits for the Rockets were Demester with 29, Cudworth with 26 and O'Connor with 11.

O'Connor was the only Rocket to make double digits with assists. She had a total of 33 assists, with Ava Peterson, Delana Thomas, Maria Becker and Demester all tied with one each.

The Rockets had a total of 13 blocks against the Wildcats. Cudworth and Becker tied at four each, Myhre had three and O'Connor and Belquist tied at one each.

Seven aces were tallied for the Rockets. Belquist, O'Connor and Demester each had two and Cudworth had one.

Senior middle hitter, Desidy Schwanke, of the Benson County Wildcats received her 1,000th dig during the matchup. Congratulations to Schwanke.

The New Rockford-Sheyenne B-squad, C-squad and seventh grade teams all left victorious as well. The B-squad team defeated the Wildcats 25-15 in the first set, 25-14 in the second set and 15-4 in the third set. The C-squad team won the first set 25-8, lost the second set 12-25 and came back to win the third set 15-10. The seventh grade team defeated the Wildcats 25-19 in the first set and 26-24 in the second set.

The eighth grade team wasn't as successful. The Wildcats defeated the Rockets 25-22 in the first set and 25-23 in the second set.

The Rockets will travel to Dunseith on Thursday, Oct. 7 to take on the Dragons (A,B,JH). On Saturday, Oct. 9 the varsity volleyball team will travel to Carrington to compete in the Carrington varsity tournament.

Super Region 4 Volleyball

Tuesday, Sept. 28

NR-S 3, Benson Co. 2

at Maddock

NR-S 20 25 22 25 15

BC 25 18 25 23 8

NR-S Stats:

Assists: O'Connor 33, Peterson 1, Thomas 1, Becker 1, Demester 1.

Kills: Belquist 22, Cudworth 12, Peterson 3, Myhre 3, O'Connor 1.

Digs: Belquist 38, Demester 29, Cudworth 26, O'Connor 11, Thomas 9, Peterson 6, Kyria Dockter 1, Becker 1.

Blocks: Cudworth 4, Becker 4, Myhre 3, O'Connor 1, Belquist 1.

Aces: Belquist 2, O'Connor 2, Demester 2, Cudworth 1.

Benson County Stats:

Not available at press time.

B-Squad

NR-S 3, Benson Co. 0

(25-15, 25-14, 15-4)

C-Squad

NR-S 2, Benson Co. 1

(25-8, 12-25, 15-10)

8th Grade

NR-S 0, Benson Co. 2

(22-25, 23-25)

7th Grade

NR-S 2, Benson Co. 0

(25-19, 26-24)