FORT TOTTEN — The Indians dropped a neck-and-neck battle in Thursday night’s Region 4 tournament play-in game.
No. 8-seeded Four Winds/Minnewaukan (5-23, 1-8) fought back from a 2-0 deficit to force a tie-breaking fifth set against No. 9-seeded Dunseith (4-24, 1-8). The Indians trailed 10-2 in the decisive set, then made it as close as 13-10 before ultimately falling just short.
The 3-2 loss ended FW/M’s season. Dunseith advanced to a quarterfinal game against Langdon Area/Munich, the No. 2-ranked team in all of Class B. All four quarterfinal games will commence on Monday at Devils Lake High School, starting at 3 p.m.
Karlie Baker led the Indians with seven kills on Thursday (unofficially), while Miya Charboneau and Suri Gourd each had six. Charboneau also smacked seven aces. Ryleigh Wetzel added four aces.
The Indians were close in both of the full sets they lost, with scores of 25-21 and 25-22. They won 25-22 and 25-11 before dropping the fifth set 15-10.
“We road a roller coaster a little bit this season,” the team wrote on Facebook. “A different line up 30 + times. But in the end, so much promise with this crew. Love seeing the consistent passing, serving and a constant attack. Looking forward to the future!”
Set 1: Dunseith 25, Four Winds/Minnewaukan 21 (1-0 Dragons)
The Indians got off to the right start, going up 3-0 after a kill by Kendra Spotted Wolf and an ace by Charboneau.
They built a 13-9 lead at one point, with an ace by freshman Siri Gourd and a Charboneau kill. But they lost the next seven points to fall behind 16-13. Dunseith kept FW/M off balance with its service game, and after back-to-back Dragon kills, the Indians took a timeout.
FW/M stayed close the rest of the way, but could never quite catch back up. The Dragons took the set by four.
Set 2: Dunseith 25, Four Winds/Minnewaukan 22 (2-0 Dragons)
After falling in a tight first set, the Indians got off to a sluggish start in the second. Aubrey Adams and Baker had kills to make it 3-3, but FW/M lost eight straight points after that. It was charged with illegal contact and a net violation amidst the stretch.
The Indians trailed by as large a gap as 16-6 at one point. It was all going Dunseith’s way.
But they chipped away with four straight points. Gourd had a kill and two aces over the four-point span, and Dru Longie had a kill. It was a 16-10 set.
Some sloppiness helped Dunseith build a sizable lead again at 21-10. But another big run by the Indians — this time 7-0 — got them close. Dunseith rattled off a string of errors, and Adams finished off a long rally with a kill to make it 21-17.
Four straight FW/M points trimmed the margin to 23-22, with kills by Baker and Gourd and an ace by Wetzel. But the Indians’ valiant comeback attempt was slightly too little, too late. They fell by three despite nearly overcoming an 11-point gap.
Set 3: Four Winds/Minnewaukan 25, Dunseith 22 (2-1 Dragons)
But, with momentum on their side, the Indians started to find their winning ways. They battled back from an earl 5-1 deficit to make it 7-6; Baker had a kill and an ace back-to-back, while Adams had two kills and Spotted Wolf had one. Down 9-7, FW/M won three in a row to take a 10-9 lead.
Knotted at 11-11, the Indians soared with a 6-0 run. Charboneau caught fire, slamming three consecutive aces, followed by a kill.
Dunseith made the lead as tight as three points, but couldn’t come all the way back in the set. The Indians took it by three to get on the board.
Set 4: Four Winds/Minnewaukan 25, Dunseith 11 (2-2)
The Indians won this one in more dominant fashion to bring the match to a decisive fifth set.
They led 6-0 right out of the gate. Charboneau had another hot streak, with two straight aces, while Baker also had a pair of kills.
Back-to-back kills by Spotted Wolf made it 10-1. After a Baker kill and an Adams ace, the Indians had their largest lead yet at 15-4.
Dunseith won three in a row after that, but that was the Dragons’ only substantial run of the set. It was all FW/M, which won more total points than Dunseith did on Thursday.
So it all came down to the last set.
Set 5: Dunseith 15, Four Winds/Minnewaukan 10 (3-2 Dragons)
The Indians won the first point on a service error, but they abruptly stumbled into a deep hole. Dunseith won eight consecutive points, aided by errors while winning tight battles at the net.
FW/M, needing to claw back once again, started chipping away and reclaiming some energy. Wetzel came up huge with back-to-back aces, helping cut the deficit to 10-6.
Dunseith took the next two, but FW/M won the next three. Baker had a kill, and two straight Dragon errors made it a slightly higher 12-9.
But Dunseith held strong in the end, fending off a resilient FW/M team that made the match a lot closer than the early going would have indicated.
