Now, the Mustangs are becoming a staple in the regional field.

For the third time in four years, Surrey advanced out of districts, knocking out Berthold in four sets, 25-12, 25-14, 14-25, 25-16, in a regional-qualifier at the District 6 Tournament on Monday, Nov. 3, at the Minot Municipal Auditorium. The Mustangs will serve as the district’s No. 4 seed and play the District 5 champion in the opening round of the Region 3 Tournament.

“We were finding the open spots on their side of the court,” Surrey coach Michaela Martin said. “When we were finding those open spots we kept going to them and just helped us out. With the big middles that we have and the ability to stop the ball with the block, that helped us a lot as well.”

While a regional berth is a regional berth, this one felt a bit different for the Mustangs, who entered the district tournament as the No. 3 seed, only to be required to forfeit all of its regular season games due to an illegible transfer player that was discovered by the program on the heels of their opening-round match. As a result, the Mustangs dropped to the No. 10 seed and were required to play in a play-in match to be one of the final eight to participate in the district tournament.

Mike Kraft/MDN Newburg-Westhope’s Macy Bryans digs out a ball during a regional-qualifying match at the Minot Municipal Auditorium on Monday, Nov. 3.

It resulted in a much more difficult path to regionals and it only got tougher after dropping its opener to Glenburn, requiring the Mustangs to win their next two matches to keep what was a promising season going. Unfazed by all the adversity, Surrey did just that, sweeping Drake-Anamoose in a loser-out game before topping Berthold to extend their season by at least another match.

“We’ve been waiting for this moment,” Surrey junior Ava Keller said. “I know the first game was a hard loss and then we pushed through the next two. I’m just really excited we get to move on and play more games with these seniors.”

The Mustangs came ready to play on Monday, winning their first two sets handily after a weekend of rest. They tallied 10 of the first 11 points and 20 of the opening 25. Keller provided four kills and a block in the early going and Mekenzie Neighbors served up three consecutive aces.

Khloe Spaulding got involved in the second set, registering four kills in the set. Tied 6-6 early in the set, Surrey went on a 10-2 run to grab control. The Bombers wouldn’t get any closer than five points the rest of the set. Surrey closed out the middle frame by scoring nine of the final 13 points.

With their season on the brink, the Bombers flipped the script as if the two teams had swapped jerseys during the break. Addison Neshem and Ella Brown paced Berthold in the fourth set. Neshem had 10 kills, two aces and a block, while Brown contributed three kills and three aces.

With the set tied 9-9, the Bombers went on a 10-0 run to help extend their season by another set. Neshem closed it out with her 10th kill of the set.

Surrey’s third trip to regionals wouldn’t be denied, however, as the Mustangs closed out the match during a back-and-forth fourth set. It was a victory by committee, as Harley Ryals, Camryn Guy, Spaulding and Keller all recorded kills. While Neighbors has been one of Surrey’s go-to options, there were stretches where she wasn’t relied on to get needed points.

“Mekenzie has been a huge part of our team, but the last couple of years, especially our middles have stepped up and we couldn’t do it without them,” Martin said. “With their blocks and just the defense they play and the different tempo they bring to the front row, it’s huge and it’s hard to defend, especially when the ball is being moved around and not just going to one player consistently. It throws the other defense off.”

Keller led the Mustangs with 11 kills. Spaulding finished with nine and Neighbors contributed eight.

Berthold was seeking its seventh regional appearance.

Eagles end regional drought in five-set thriller

Despite being the No. 4 seed heading into the district tournament, Newburg-Westhope coach Amanda LaCroix viewed her team as an underdog, one of the teams the average observer doesn’t think about when talking about the top teams among the district.

After a five-set victory over Velva in a regional qualifier, the Eagles are no longer an afterthought in anyone’s minds. Newburg-Westhope snapped a six-match losing streak in regional-qualifying matches by knocking off Velva 25-20, 9-25, 25-21, 17-25, 15-11, at the Minot Municipal Auditorium on Monday, Nov. 3. The Eagles earned the No. 3 seed out of District 6 in next week’s regional tournament.

“We always strive to be the underdogs because it seems where we get most of our confidence from is when people don’t think that we are going to win it all and so when it comes to this tit-for-tat, set-for-set, we were able to embrace it,” Newburg-Westhope coach Amanda LaCroix said.

The appearance in the regional tournament is the Eagles’ ninth and first since 2018.

The Eagles had played three five-set matches entering Monday, one of which was against the Aggies. They were 1-2, having lost to Velva in one of those three matches. But the Eagles won when it mattered most, despite trailing throughout most of the tiebreaker. Velva took three of the first four points, but the Eagles never fell behind by more than two points. They would grab the lead for the first time at 7-6 on a kill from Macy Bryans, who had three kills during the fifth set. Her final kill of the match gave Newburg-Westhope a 10-9 lead.

The Aggies won the ensuing point to tie the set 10-10, but the Eagles registered five of the final six points to earn the regional bid. The Aggies sailed a shot out of bounds, Marleigh Henry recorded a kill, Velva put two more shots out of play and senior Natalia Zettell kept her high school career going for another week with a kill on match point.

“We all decided that we all play as hard as we can or we go home, so we left it all out there,” Zettell said. “We were all a little nervous, but we knew we had to rely on each other and trust each other and play our game.”

Zettell had three kills and an ace in the fifth and 10 kills over the final four sets.

“Marleigh is our setter as well as a hitter,” LaCroix said. “She’ll tell people she’s not someone that is normally a hitter and she’s really ended up into that position whether she wanted to or not and she’s stepped up in that position. Natalia is just an all-around player. She can hit or defend from anywhere, but they would not be the players they are if it wasn’t for the team pushing them.”

Velva appeared to have the momentum heading into the tiebreaker after taking the fourth set. Anya Olson gave the Eagles fits all match. She had eight kills and three blocks in the fourth set alone. She had her own personal 5-0 mini-run late in the set and closed it out with a kill to force the tiebreaking set.

The Eagles won the opening set, but Velva stormed back in the second, with Olson and Makena Panchot leading the way. The duo combined for eight kills and two aces as the Aggies jumped out to a 10-4 lead and never looked back. Leading 13-7, Velva closed the set on a 12-2 run.

But the underdog Eagles reclaimed their lead in the match by taking a back-and-forth third set. The Aggies led by as much as 13-8 before Newburg-Westhope rallied. Zettell helped fuel an 8-2 run to turn a 13-10 deficit into an 18-15 advantage. The Aggies would pull even three times late, but a kill by Henry gave the Eagles a 21-20 lead, which they would hold. Kills by Leah Heth and Zettell and an ace by Bryans gave the third set to the Eagles.

“We have a history of being the underdog, so it feels really good to finally be in regionals, because it’s been a lot of years,” Zettell said.