Mike Kraft/MDN Minot North begins its second season as a varsity program with plenty of senior leadership and high expectations.

The spotlight won’t seem so bright and the speed of the game won’t appear as fast for the Minot North volleyball team as it begins to find its footing entering its second season as a full-fledged varsity program.

All things considered, the Sentinels enjoyed a successful first season, posting a .500 conference record and winning a West Region tournament game while producing two all-conference players in Cadence Shipman and Aven Kelly.

“They’re starting to believe it and you are whatever you believe,” Minot North coach Kari Francis said. “I think the girls have just worked so hard in the offseason and playing all the other sports they do they have just started turning into real competitors that are starting to understand the demands of the varsity level in the WDA. I’m just so excited to see what we can put together. It’s all about the strength of our group and not one or two people. It’s everybody stepping in and seeing what they can do each night because this is a gauntlet. This is going to be a really difficult conference season now with two teams not being there.”

The WDA will have a new look for the second straight season. Last year it was the Sentinels joining the conference to expand the field to 12 teams, and now with the move to a three-class system in the sport, both Watford City and Turtle Mountain move down to Class A, shrinking the Class AA field to 10. It eliminates the double-counters, as now every team will be required to play all nine opponents home and away.

Minot North will look relatively the same, as the Sentinels bring back all but four players from last year, graduating Shipman, Marleigh Iverson, Kyleigh Keller and Kaiya Chell. In 18 conference matches, Shipman led the team in kills (246), blocks (25) and aces (23).

This year’s senior class features seven players spanning all positions on the court. The senior class is made up of two middle hitters in Helena Lium and Kelly, outside hitter Mckinnley Kragh, defensive specialists Athena Buseth and Kate Coleman, libero Kate Weishaar and Alyssa Spearow, who serves as both a setter and rightside hitter.

“We have a lot of kids who played on the varsity last year and we have kids who have played at the varsity level at so many other sports and done other things that it’s starting to transfer that they strength of our numbers, the depth of our bench and that it’s not just on the shoulders of one or two people, it’s distributed among so many people,” Francis said. “Our strength is our depth and so many players coming back.”

Kragh is the leading kills returner, recording 109 in 18 conference matches. She also compiled 126 digs and 12 aces and is ready to be a leader in her final year with the team.

“There’s a lot more experience,” Kragh said. “We know how to handle hardships as a team. A big leadership role is coming for us as seniors, so I like that part. We’re going to have to step up our play, but I think we do have a good shot. We have a bunch of younger girls coming up and that’s going to benefit our team.”

Minot North might be new to the varsity level, but it proved last year that they weren’t going to be the punching bag of the West Region where other teams could just rack up wins against. The Sentinels were 7-1 (9-1 when factoring in double-counters against Jamestown and Bismarck St. Mary’s) against teams that finished the regular season in the bottom half of the standings. Their biggest win of the season came at home against Minot High, a five-set victory on Oct. 15.

“Our goal is to always try our best and keep a positive outlook,” Weishaar said. “It’s not about the wins or losses. We all just want to play our best. I feel like everyone is a really strong competitor. We have to stay consistent and positive and I think we can do just fine in the WDA.”

The loss of Watford City and Turtle Mountain only makes the path to a state tournament that much tougher. With only four spots up for grabs and the successful history of Bismarck Century and Bismarck High, Minot North knows that every game is crucial to put themselves in the best situation to reach that ultimate goal of being one of the final eight teams remaining at the end of the year.

“We know how hard the WDA is,” Francis said. “The WDA is going to be a wild, wild, west. We still have a lot of top teams in Bismarck that we are trying to chase, but we hope to be in the mix and give ourselves the best opportunity at the end of the season. But it’s a long gauntlet of a year and we have to be able to withstand how long the season is.”

The Sentinels aren’t lacking in senior leadership and they aren’t lacking in team chemistry either despite their current lack of varsity-level experience. That chemistry is what has allowed them to get through the growing pains.

“We’ve been playing together for a really long time, so it helps that we all have chemistry together,” Weishaar said. “We’ve all played together before. All of us know each other really well and have great chemistry. Just having one last season together will be really positive for us.”

The Sentinels begin Year 2 at the BPS Crossover in Bismarck beginning Friday, Aug. 29, where they will play West Fargo Horace, Fargo North and Fargo South. They conclude the two-day event with matches against West Fargo, Grand Forks Red River and Grand Forks Central on Saturday, Aug. 30.