CANDO — New Rockford-Sheyenne pulled off an upset sweep on Tuesday at North Star High School.
Despite coming into the match with an inferior overall record, NR-S (9-15, 4-1) beat North Star (19-8-1, 2-4) in straight sets. Led by Emmie Belquist, Ava Peterson and Kaiya O’Connor throughout a strong overall team effort, the Rockets took down the team that was ranked No. 6 at the beginning of the season — in fairly handily fashion, too.
“It felt great,” NR-S head coach Sara Myhre said. “We’ve been dealing with some injuries. We’ve changed our rotation a couple times. And we’ve played in some really good, solid tournaments, so we’ve played some really good teams. So I think it’s prepared us for these big region games.”
Belquist led the Rockets with 11 kills, while Peterson and O’Connor each had eight. Peterson and O’Connor had 12 and 11 digs, respectively, while O’Connor also had two aces.
The victory — which consisted of 25-16, 25-15 and 25-14 set wins — came ahead of a tough week coming up for the Rockets, where they’ll play two of the top teams in Region 4, Langdon Area/Munich (26-5, 5-0) and North Prairie (22-6, 4-2).
“Langdon is always a really competitive team,” Myhre said. “We always play them usually two weeks before regionals… North Prairie will be a tough team… This year, Region 4 is super competitive.”
North Star never found a groove on Tuesday, constantly having to fight from behind and letting errors interrupt its brief spurts of momentum. On the positive side for the Bearcats, junior middle blocker Anna Bessonova returned from a stress fracture in her foot. But she was still used sparingly as she eases her way back into action.
Set 1: New Rockford-Sheyenne 25, North Star 16 (1-0 Rockets)
After the Bearcats won the first two points, NR-S took nine of the next 10.
Belquist came out hitting hard, deep shots that made North Star look off balance out of the gates. The Bearcats handed the Rockets some points with errors, and very quickly trailed 9-3.
Belquist was at the outside hitter position after playing on the right side earlier this year.
“That spot is a way better fit for her,” Myhre said. “She is super athletic and covers a lot of floor out there.”
It was an uphill battle from there for North Star, which settled in a little bit but could never make the run it needed to truly get back into the set.
“I think we know that we’re a defensive team,” Myhre said. “And we’ve been working really hard. We don’t have a lot of tall girls, so our defense has to be strong. And I think tonight showed it.”
With North Star trailing 18-9, Bessonova got her first action of the night. She helped the Bearcats win three of the next four points. But Peterson came up with back-to-back kills, including a sharp crosscourt shot from the front left corner.
Peterson, a lefty, leads the team in kills this season but only recently returned to the court after a brief injury hiatus.
“She is a team leader. Her energy is high,” Myhre said of Peterson. “She’s my communicator. She goes for everything, and you can’t read her. She does back-row attacks. She’s so fun to watch this year.”
With the score at 24-14, North Star’s Annabelle Staus fought off back-to-back set points with kills, including a blind backwards shot from behind her head.
NR-S won the set on an error.
Set 2: New Rockford-Sheyenne 25, North Star 15 (2-0 Rockets)
The Bearcats started out by reclaiming some energy. At the end of a long point that featured a diving save into the bleachers, Claire Weber finished it off with a block to get North Star within a 4-3 margin.
The Rockets took the next two points. But North Star fought back by winning four straight, and, up 7-6, looked like it might be on its way to evening the match.
That energy was deflated by three straight Rocket points. Jaida Schumacher tapped one into an open spot to tie it back up, and a kill by O’Connor put NR-S in the lead.
North Star never led again.
A 4-0 run separated the Rockets, putting them up 13-8. O’Connor had a pair of aces amidst the stretch. After a kill by Alivia Yri, North Star had a miscommunication where nobody touched the ball.
Belquist and O’Connor each had a kill amidst a 4-0 run, and it was a whopping 21-11.
“She’s doing so well. I’m so proud of her,” Myhre said of Belquist, who’s only a sophomore. “She’s just a solid player, six-rotation player, and her passing and hitting has just taken off this year. It really has.”
The last two points came on another kill by O’Connor and an ace by Bailey Jacobson.
Set 3: New Rockford-Sheyenne 25, North Star 14 (3-0 Rockets)
In a fitting display of dominance, NR-S allowed exactly one fewer point in each set.
It was all Rockets from the beginning, as they got off to a 5-0 start that extended into 7-1. Peterson, Belquist and Yri all came up with shots that overwhelmed the Bearcats.
North Star, to its credit, did claw back to get it to 9-7. Avery Elsperger had a fortunate ace that bounced off the net.
But NR-S won five in a row again to run away with the set for good. North Star got back into making errors, and the Rockets took off to win the set and the match relatively stress-free. NR-S had a stretch where it won 10 out of 11 points to make it 19-8.
A 4-0 run from North Star was much too little, much too late. Jorie Ahlberg had an ace, and Mattea Wanzek and Rogue Stephens had kills. Wanzek and Stephens, typically two of the Bearcats’ best attackers, had been slowed down nearly all night. And so NR-S finished it off by winning five consecutive points, and the night came to an anti-climactic, commanding end.
“We played as a team against North Star tonight and wanted to win,” Myhre said. “Energy was high, and I told them to limit their errors and don’t feed them free balls and have fun out there, and they did.”
Now sporting a 4-1 region record, despite an undesirable overall record, the Rockets will be tested with a pair of tough opponents next week. But Myhre said she’s encouraged by the direction her team is going.
“It’s been fun,” she said. “We started off slow, and I think our momentum is now picked up.”
NR-S plays LA/M on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at New Rockford High School. North Star, meanwhile, travels to play Harvey/Wells County (17-8-1, 3-2) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
“I always say to them, ‘If we are not winning, we are learning,’” Myhre said. “And that’s what we continue to implement in practice.”