Article Photos

Advertisement

BOTTINEAU - Sometimes in volleyball the most deceiving statistic is the final score.

That was never more the case then at the final day of the District 11 volleyball tournament. Both matches ended in 3-0 sweeps, but neither were as lopsided as the final score indicated.

In the championship, Velva rode early momentum for a thrilling 28-26 win in game 1 to earn a 3-0 win and take the title over Bottineau Monday at the Bottineau High School gym.

"This game meant so much," Velva head coach Diana Thingstad said. "Bottineau has dominated the district for so long and it was one of our goals to get to the championship and then hopefully beat them. It (game 1 win) got us off of the right step, you bet."

Velva won the district for the first time in recent memory by scores of 28-26, 25-23, 25-22.

"We had a few mental errors, but got it back, especially in the end," said Velva senior Brittney Thingstad, who was named District Senior of the Year. "The first game definitely got our confidence up. It made us feel like we were in control of things."

Not much separated the two teams as neither team enjoyed a bigger lead than two in the pivotal game 1 and both had chances to win.

"It was a very well played game (game 1) and match by both teams," Bottineau head coach Angie Bartholomay said. "Every little mistake was huge. I thought they played very, very well, as good as I've seen Velva play."

Velva got to game point at 24-22 on a block by Whitney Boehm. But the Stars battled back for ties at 24 on a Shyla Wettlaufer kill and at 25 on a Whitney Page kill. However, the Aggies won the game after a block by Bailey Thomas and a kill by Sarah Weidler.

Brittney Thingstad praised the play of both Thomas and by Weidler.

"We have practiced going around the block in the middle," she said. "Bailey did a great job and Sarah is peaking right now. (Weidler) really calms the team down and it is nice to have an outside playing well like that."

Bottineau made an adjustment in game 2 to attack the outside and built a 9-5 lead on a block by Page. But, the Aggies made an adjustment of their own to offset the Stars outside hitters and got back into the game.

It was a carbon copy of the first two game in game 3 as both teams made runs. Velva got out to a 23-18 lead with a Thingstand kill, but Bottineau didn't go away. Page tipped a two-hand kill and after a Velva, the Stars had cut the lead to 24-22. Thingstad, however, ended the drama with her match-high 18th kill from the back row.

"The just kept going," Diana Thingstand added. "There was a lot of effort. Sometimes we can stand around and look, but we moved pretty well tonight."

Page and Krystal Erickson led the way for the Stars with eight kills apiece. Ashleigh Aufforth and Trista Bjerk contributed with 18 and 14 assists respectively and Kelsie Grenier and Chelsey Derr led the defense with 19 and 17 digs.

"This can go two ways for us. We can either learn from this or accept that this is how we are going to finish the year," said Bartholomay, who was named the District Coach of the Year.

Thomas had a solid match for the Aggies with seven kills and a block. Weidler was the defensive star with 25 digs and added four kills. Ali Podoll and Jaci Norbury split time setting and split 28 assists down the middle.

The Aggies take the top seed into Monday's Region 6 tournament at the Minot Civic Auditorium.

Newburg-Westhope 3,

Rugby 0

Newburg-Westhope swept its match against Rugby 3-0, but it was anything but easy.

"That 3-0 just looks terrible in the paper the next day. We had some things we were really good at and Rugby had some things they did well," Eagles head coach Jordan Cooper said. "It was really a match of runs.

"It was tough to come in here and play the first game, on a Monday after the weekend and get going. A win is a win and now you have a week to practice."

N-W won game 1 25-18 and then had to hold off late Rugby runs in the game 2 (26-24) and game 3 (25-22).

"We played pretty well in game 1 but got lulled into complacency," Cooper said. "We needed to get things going. Our athleticism carried us to a 'W' - again."

The Eagles got the leads in games 2 and 3 with solid net play. Four players had at least six kills and two different players achieved three blocks. Addie Thompson and McKayla Artz led the was with six kills each, while Sarah Gessner and Kendra Thom knocked home six kills apiece. Gessner and Artz finished with three blocks each.

The Panthers rallied in each of the game, but were hampered by strong serving by the Eagles. Rugby gave up 15 aces. Leading the Panthers were Kristin Migler and Kaitlin Blessum with six kills each.