Rockets fall to Knights in state quarterfinals

Thursday, Nov. 16

The 2023 State Class B Volleyball Tournament got underway at the Fargodome today. In the quarterfinal round, the New Rockford-Sheyenne Rockets took on the Our Redeemer's Knights.

The Rockets started off strong, with big blocks coming from Kelsie Belquist, and they soon had a 4-point advantage before multiple errors allowed the Knights to take a 10-8 lead.

But it wasn't long before the Rockets and Knights were tied up at 15 each.

A block by Leah Lindquist sent the ball back to the Knights, and they went on a 2-point run until NR-S senior, Lucy Meier, secured a kill.

But the Knights began to hit the ball over the NR-S blockers, which aided in many of their points toward the end of set one, and allowed Our Redeemer's to take set number one 25-19.

The Knights opened set two with a 4-point lead before Kelsie Belquist answered with a tip over the net. Then a back-row hit by Knights senior Maya Vibeto quickly sent the ball back.

From that point on it was all Knights in set two, as they soon led 8-1 before a hit by Lindquist was blocked by Belquist.

But the Rockets didn't keep the possession long, as there was a service error.

The Knights went on another roll after that, and suddenly they led 20-6.

After a timeout by the Rockets, Peterson took a swing from the right side to snag a kill. And the Rockets started their climb back up.

After a couple of points back and forth, NR-S kept pushing until Lindquist blocked a big kill attempt from Kelsie Belquist, bringing the score to 22-13.

With the ball in possession of the Knights with the score 24-16, Meier jumped up to slam down a stray ball to bring it back to the Rockets.

But the Knights overcame the comeback attempt with a passing error by NR-S libero, Logan Cudworth, taking set two 25-17.

Set three started rocky for the Rockets as well, with two passing errors by Kelsie Belquist, but the Knights also had an error that sent the ball back.

The Rockets and Knights went point-for-point, until NR-S started to take a lead, which they held until Isabelle Engelhard got behind the service line for the Knights.

Our Redeemer's battled back and took a 15-14 lead before the teams began to rally for points once again.

With a kill by NR-S freshman, Emmie Belquist, the Rockets took a 2-point lead before a timeout was called. But with hitting errors by the Rockets, the game was tied up once again, this time 18-18.

And the rallying began once again. One point for the Rockets, then another for the Knights.

With the score tied at 23, the Rockets earned the ball back after a lift was called on the Knights. And then a clutch hit to center court by Kelsie Belquist earned a 25-23 set win for NR-S.

Set four began with a 3-point lead by the Knights.

The Rockets were able to play catch up but the Knights just kept pushing back.

They were tied 6-6 before Our Redeemer's started adding up the points once again, taking an 8-point lead.

A kill sent nearly out of bounds by Peterson brought the ball back to the Rockets, but the Knights weren't giving up and they led 19-10 before a kill by Kaiya O'Connor.

With a tip by Vibeto, the Knights were on offense once again. Point-by-point, was the name of the game for the Knights and Rockets.

With the Knights leading 23-15, the Rockets began to fight harder. They scored the next four straight points, and the score was 19-23 before a timeout was called by the Knights.

Then, a kill to the far corner by Lindquist brought it to match point for the Knights, and a passing error by the Rockets gave the Knights the set win, 25-19, sending the Knights to the semifinal round and the Rockets to the consolation bracket.

The Knights will take on the May Port-C-G Patriots on Friday, Nov. 17 at 5 p.m. The Patriots dominated the Trenton Tigers 3-0 (25-10, 25-10, 25-23) in the opening round of the tournament.

The Rockets are set to play the Trenton Tigers at 1 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 17 in the consolation semifinals.