Photo by Noah Clooten
CANDO — The Bearcats have had a difficult year. They were ranked No. 6 preseason, but took an array of tough defeats in the middle of the season and were hit hard by injuries to Anna Bessonova and, most recently, Rogue Stephens. They’ve tried to counteract their struggles with lineup changes and promotions from the JV team.
“We had a lot of talks about the changes,” North Star head coach Kirstin Ahlberg said. “And we try to keep the communication open of all the adversity we went through.”
But they’re in the playoffs. No. 7-seeded North Star (21-11-1, 3-6) beat No. 10-seeded St. John (3-27, 1-8) in Friday’s play-in game, 3-0, to move to Monday’s quarterfinals.
“I thought it was great,” Ahlberg said. “The things we were working on in practice, they really applied to tonight’s game. And we did not overlook St. John. I said, ‘We’ve gotta get this done and come out strong and aggressive.’”
The Bearcats won 25-13, 25-9 and 25-15.
Set 1: North Star 25, St. John 13 (1-0 Bearcats)
Bessonova got the Bearcats started on the right foot, with a strong kill from the middle. North Star led 3-0 out of the gates.
But St. John had a couple strong shots of its own, trimming the lead to 4-3. A 4-0 run from North Star, fueled by back-to-back aces by Avery Elsperger, stretched the gap to 9-4. Elsperger had the most aces on the team with five.
The Bearcats got error-happy, though, to cut it back to 9-7.
North Star eventually started to separate itself with runs of 4-0 and 6-0. Though the Bearcats had some sloppy moments, while still figuring out their relatively new rotations, they were just the better team with stronger hitters. This was in lieu of Stephens, who recently went down to a season-ending knee injury but is still supporting the team on the sideline.
“She’s a presence on the court, and those girls are playing for her,” Ahlberg said. “She’s stayed positive, and she’s doing the best that she can from the bench.
Seventh-grader Genevieve Ahlberg had two kills down the stretch. She joined the team midseason, helping to lessen the blow of Stephens’ injury. Ahlberg, K. Ahlberg’s daughter and senior setter Jorie Ahlberg’s younger sister, was second on the team with seven kills on the night.
“She’s also doing it for Rogue,” K. Ahlberg said. “She knows that Rogue can’t do it anymore, and I asked her to come in and just be aggressive, and go out there and play. She hasn’t had a ton of varsity experience, and I said, ‘You’re gonna make mistakes, and everyone knows that, and you just have to do the best you can.’”
The 6-foot-3 Annabelle Staus won the set with a powerful crosscourt kill.
Set 2: North Star 25, St. John 9 (2-0 Bearcats)
North Star stumbled initially, losing the first two points.
But the Bearcats soared to win the next seven. Senior Mattea Wanzek had two kills in that span. Eighth-grader Claire Jorde also had a kill from the right side.
A rare Jorde miss helped St. John shrink the gap to 11-7, but North Star took the next six points. Jorde had an ace, and G. Ahlberg came up with another kill.
Jorde, like Ahlberg, is a recent addition to the varsity team.
“I told her and Genevieve, ‘When you guys go in there, you play like you’re just playing a regular volleyball game,’” K. Ahlberg said. “‘Don’t think about it. We’ll help you along the way.’… They have soaked in all of the information that we’ve told them at practice.”
Claire Weber joined the ace party to make it 20-8. The Bearcats won the final five points to win the set handily. Bessonova smacked a kill, and she stayed pesky at the net to keep the Woodchucks on their heels.
It was a single-digit victory for North Star.
Set 3: North Star 25, St. John 15 (3-0 Bearcats)
The teams traded 3-0 runs early on, putting North Star behind 5-4.
But after St. John hung in to keep the Bearcats’ lead at 8-7, North Star won the next nine. The Bearcats ended up securing a 10-point lead to finish off the set and match.
Bessonova had multiple commanding kills in the set, and ended up leading the team with nine overall.
With the play-in game now out of the way, the Bearcats will face No. 2-seeded North Prairie in the next round. North Star played three competitive matches with the Cougars throughout the season, in the midst of a region where the top seven teams have all proved themselves worthy against one another.
“We need to play our best, and we need to play with a lot of fun,” Ahlberg said. “We’re just going to give it our all and let her go. Because I believe this region tournament is anyone’s game.”
The Region 4 quarterfinals begin at 3 p.m. on Monday at Devils Lake High School, starting with Langdon Area/Munich vs. Dunseith. North Star will play in the third of four games on the day.
