Photo via Four Winds/Minnewaukan Facebook
FORT TOTTEN — The high school volleyball season began with an explosion of games on Saturday.
Four Winds/Minnewaukan hosted five other teams in its home gym for the Four Winds Invitational. The basketball court was set up with two volleyball nets, so that four teams could play simultaneously. For approximately six hours, it was volleyball madness, with each team guaranteed at least four matches.
“We got to host. We got to play a lot of games, and that’s what you want to do early in the season,” FW/M coach Brigitte Greywater said. “And what I like about it is the growth of volleyball, in general, in the state of North Dakota, just keeps going and going. And so for us to get six teams, it was huge.”
The Indians won three of their four matches — all three in third-set tiebreakers. They placed third overall out of the six teams that competed.
“It’s fun,” Greywater said. “The kids have been nothing but open-minded sponge… These guys are just taking it all in. They hustle. They leave it on the floor. They just really get after it. Starting 3-1, our goal was to be in the top three of our own tournament, and that’s what we did.”
The Indians had to wait to play their first match, a time during which they filled in as line judges and rested up for the action ahead. Benson County, a team from just west of Devils Lake, opened the tournament with a dominant 2-0 defeat of White Shield. The Wildcats allowed just 10 points in each set.
Match 1: FW/M 2, Dunseith 1
FW/M’s first match was a comeback victory.
In the first set, it lost five straight points early on to go down 5-1, hampered by miscommunications. But it got into a groove, winning five straight points of its own to go up 13-10. Suri Gourd controlled multiple points, while Miya Charboneau calmly and consistently set the ball for her teammates.
“I thought Miya Charboneau was steady Eddie as a setter for us,” Greywater said.
The Dragons roared back to tie it at 13 apiece. The teams were fairly even until Dunseith pulled away at the end to win the first set 25-20.
The second set was similarly neck-and-neck. With FW/M up 25-24, the Dragons fought off three set points until the Indians finally put it away at 28-26. The final two points were won by Aubrey Adams, who hit a low shot the Dragons couldn’t handle and then finished it off with a kill.
In the tiebreaking third set, it was 3-3 before FW/M ran away with it. The Indians took 11 consecutive points and won the set 15-5, finally tiring out a Dunseith team that had started strong. Kendra Spotted Wolf stood out with forceful shots and a block at the net.
Match 2: FW/M 2, Standing Rock 1
The Indians won the first set 25-16. Kills from Cameron Bishop and Ava Gourd helped them build an 8-6 lead. They lost four straight points, but responded by winning four straight points and then building their lead to 20-14. S. Gourd continued to play an aggressive style of play, occasionally overhitting it but also coming up with some big kills.
“Ava Gourd is a dime a passer,” Greywater said. “She is a kid that is so consistent, both on serve receive and defensively. She can read, and she just is, overall, if you watch her play, she is having fun. And I thought Suri was consistent — Suri Gourd; they’re cousins. She just kept bringing it.”
But FW/M fell in the next set, 25-22. The Warriors built a 13-8 lead as the Indians started getting sloppy. FW/M stormed back with four straight points to tie it at 19-19, and the teams brought it to 22-22. But Standing Rock took the final three points, sending the Indians to their second tiebreaking set of the day.
Once again, FW/M held strong in the tiebreaker. Four straight points gave the Indians a quick 4-1 lead, and they stayed steady at 8-4. A brief lapse allowed the Warriors to tie it back up at 8-8, but the Indians punched right back with seven straight of their own. They won the third set 15-8. S. Gourd came up big again with strong kills that overpowered the Warriors’ back row.
“To battle back mentally and find yourself winning, that’s all you can ask of kids,” Greywater said. “This taught them growth. It’s 100% growth in one day.”
So, after playing back-to-back matches — both of which FW/M won in three sets — the Indians got some much-needed rest as the other four teams played. Benson County continued its dominance with a 25-12, 25-14 win over Standing Rock. The Wildcats improved to 3-0 on the day, and 6-0 in sets, securing the top record in pool play.
Match 3: Turtle Mountain JV 2, FW/M 0
The Indians got back at it with their final match of pool play.
They fell in the first set, 25-20. The set featured long rallies, but the Braves kept finding holes and outpacing the Indians.
The second set was a similar story, with a 25-18 final score. Turtle Mountain got out to a quick start, with a margin as wide as 14-5. FW/M tried to claw back, with S. Gourd leading the way, but the Indians could never quite catch up. After keeping it reasonably close at 23-18, FW/M lost the final two points.
FW/M went 4-4 overall in pool play, in terms of sets, while Turtle Mountain JV went 4-3 — setting up a rematch in the playoff round. The undefeated Benson County, meanwhile, played Dunseith (5-2 overall). Before those simultaneous matches, Standing Rock and White Shield (both 1-6) squared off. White Shield won the match to secure fifth place in the tournament.
Match 4: FW/M 2, Turtle Mountain 1
The Indians came out with a completely different energy in their rematch with Turtle Mountain JV. Playing aggressively but under control, they jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Spotted Wolf came up with some strong hits and smartly placed taps.
“I had a conversation with them in the hallway,” Greywater said. “I think they do fuel off of the energy of each other. And I said, ‘Sometimes you have to just change your face.’ You have to be like, ‘I’m up. I’m gonna play up. I’m gonna have fun. And if you choose to do that, when we go play ‘em again, you will see a total change.”
A 6-2 lead was narrowed to 7-6. The teams traded points as the set wore on — tied at 10s, 11s, 12s and 13s. The Braves progressively regained some of the control they had in the teams’ first matchup.
Turtle Mountain maintained a two-point advantage at 17-15 — until FW/M rattled off three straight to retake the lead.
It was tied 20-20, but the Indians eventually won the final five points for a 25-20 first-set victory. S. Gourd continued to take strong shots, and also won a key battle at the net that kept FW/M ahead.
The second set started the same way: a 4-0 lead for the Indians. And it continued in a similar fashion, too, as Turtle Mountain clawed it back to 5-5.
FW/M had all the momentum. A long rally, finished off by Cailee Hanson, helped boost it up 8-5. The Braves scored four straight to go back ahead, though, and remained narrowly ahead all the way until the Indians came back from 19-17 to tie it 19 apiece.
Just like the last set, it was 20-20.
This time, Turtle Mountain proved victorious. The Braves won five of the final six points to take the second set 25-21, bringing the match to FW/M’s third tiebreaking set of the day.
It all came down to this.
At first, it looked like it might be another battle. A 2-0 Indians lead became a 5-5 tie. But FW/M took off from there, winning the next seven points and handily securing the third set, 15-6.
“We talked about it being a non-contact sport; we can see everybody’s body language in this game,” Greywater said. “And they just turned a switch. They flipped the light switch on, and they said, ‘I’m gonna do what Coach asked me to.’”
So the day ended in smiles and cheers for the Indians. Just one day into the season, they already have a 3-1 record, and they have a solid starting point for where they want to take this team.
“Defensively, we have a couple shifts we need to make,” Greywater said. “And then you found us out of rotation quite a few times. We are going to work on who needs to consistently come back and serve, receive, to keep us our best.”
Over in the first-place game, Benson County beat Dunseith 2-0, including a 25-5 smashing in the second set. So the final order of teams was as follows:
Benson County
Dunseith
Four Winds/Minnewaukan
Turtle Mountain
White Shield
Standing Rock
