It was a busy Saturday for volleyball tournaments.
North Star (19-7-1, 2-3) won the North Prairie Tournament, with Nelson County (9-8, 3-2) the runner-up. There were eight teams competing in the tournament.
Devils Lake (4-16, 0-10) also found some success playing with Class B schools in the Langdon Tournament, going on to win the consolation championship. The host, Langdon Area/Munich (26-5, 5-0), continued its fantastic season by winning the tournament.
In three matches of pool play in the North Prairie Tournament, North Star won two and tied another. The Bearcats split with Bottineau to start their day, and since the loser scored exactly 21 points in each set, it was recorded as a tie.
North Star then beat Four Winds/Minnewaukan 2-0, allowing just six points in each set. The Bearcats split sets with Nelson County, 20-25 and 25-14. But because North Star scored more total points, it received credit for the win.
Nelson County had, up to that point, won all four of its sets, allowing 15 points in each set to FW/M and 22 and 19 points in its two sets against Bottineau.
Nelson County is, of course, the team that came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat North Star back on Oct. 1. The Bearcats narrowly avenged their defeat on Saturday.
Nelson County, despite technically losing the match to North Star, went into bracket play as the No. 1 seed, while North Star was the No. 2 seed. Nelson County collected seven “points” during pool play, while North Star, with its odd tie, came in at 6.5.
Both North Star and Nelson County won their first-round matchups in straight sets. North Star’s match was close, beating Bottineau 25-23 and 25-24. Nelson County’s win was much more luxurious, allowing just 15 and 14 points, respectively, in two sets against Westhope/Newburg.
That brought the two Region 4 rivals together once again for the tournament championship. North Star, after collapsing against Nelson County on Oct. 1 and splitting sets earlier on Saturday, handled business much more authoritatively in the final match of the day. The Bearcats won 25-13 and 25-17 to become champions of the tournament.
Rogue Stephens led North Star with 19 total kills on the day. Mattea Wanzek and Claire Griedl each had 16. Stephens and Wanzek have consistently been North Star’s best attackers, while Griedl has stepped in nicely for the injured Anna Bessonova.
Setter Jorie Ahlberg had 86 assists and 44 digs, while libero Claire Weber collected 68 digs. Eighth-grader Claire Jorde had 13 kills and 35 digs.
Down in the consolation bracket, FW/M recorded a split-sets win over St. John. The Indians narrowly lost the first set, 25-24, before bouncing back to take the second set 25-19. With more total points, it went down as a win for FW/M.
It was the first win for the Indians since Aug. 31, when they went 3-1 in the season-opening tournament. They had lost 14 consecutive matches and 36 consecutive sets.
FW/M (4-16, 0-5) ended up losing 25-16 and 25-15 to Bottineau in the consolation championship.
Speaking of consolation championships, Devils Lake won one of those up in Langdon on Saturday. It’s been a struggle for the Firebirds competing in the EDC, but they leveled the playing field a bit with some Class B competition. There were 12 total teams competing in the tournament.
In pool play, Devils Lake lost a close one to Dickinson Trinity, 27-25 and 25-22. Dickinson Trinity has been the king of Region 7, having only lost three matches all season before dropping two on Saturday.
Devils Lake then lost in straight sets to LA/M. The Cardinals have been one of the best teams in all of Class B this season. After eventually winning the tournament, LA/M holds a record of 26-5.
But the Firebirds recorded a win in their last match of pool play, beating North Border 25-18 and 25-14. They went into bracket play as the No. 8 seed.
And they won both of their consolation matches, with all four sets being neck-and-neck. There was a 26-24, 25-22 win over Cavalier, and then a 25-22, 25-23 victory over New Rockford-Sheyenne to seal the deal.
NR-S, competing in a different pool than Devils Lake, had also gone 1-2 during pool play. The Rockets (8-15, 3-1) were the No. 7 seed and beat Napoleon/Gackle-Streeter before falling to the Firebirds.
LA/M handled business all day, winning all three matches of pool play and both matches of bracket play. The Cardinals beat the No. 3 seed, May-Port-C-G, to advance to the tournament championship, where they took down No. 1-seeded Grafton 25-17 and 25-20.
Grafton had been ranked a higher seed than LA/M simply by winning by larger margins during pool play.
Those were the last tournaments on the schedule for all of these teams before the postseason. The next time they compete in any kind of tournament, it’ll be the official region tournaments. The volleyball season is already starting to wind down.
Class B region tournaments are scheduled for Nov. 11-14, while the EDC tournament will be held from Nov. 12-16.