Benson County volleyball team (Photo by Noah Clooten)
By Mojo Hill
It’s approaching playoff time in Class B volleyball.
In District 4, which includes a handful of teams in the Lake Region, district play came to an end Tuesday. The biweekly polls for all three volleyball divisions were also released Tuesday.
First, here’s a quick look at the final district standings. This was the first year these teams have competed in a district; last year, the same nine teams (plus Harvey/Wells County) were in a super-region.
District 4 regular season standings (by district record)
- Langdon Area/Munich (8-0)
- New Rockford-Sheyenne (7-1)
- Benson County (6-2)
- North Star (5-3)
- Nelson County (3-5)
- North Prairie (3-5)
- Dunseith (2-6)
- St. John (2-6)
- Four Winds/Minnewaukan (1-7)
In cases where teams had the same district record, the tiebreaker was the head-to-head result.
With the standings finalized, the bracket for the upcoming District 4 tournament is set. It will start with a play-in match between the No. 8 and 9 seed at the higher seed. Last season, the Indians lost to Dunseith in the region play-in match.
During the regular season this year, FW/M won a five-set thriller over St. John. The Indians will travel to St. John on Monday for a 6 p.m. match.
The winner of the play-in match will face Langdon Area/Munich in the first round of the district tournament, which is being held in Rolla on Oct. 30, Oct. 31 and Nov. 3.
The other first-round matchups are Nelson County vs. North Star, Dunseith vs. New Rockford-Sheyenne and North Prairie vs. Benson County.
There is a losers-out bracket, with four teams eventually moving on to the region tournament. Each team will play no more than one match per day. You lose twice, and you’re done.
The two region qualifier matches start at 4 p.m. on Nov. 3. The district championship will follow.
The four teams will then combine with the four surviving teams from the District 3 tournament to compete in the Region 2 tournament in Devils Lake.
Latest Class B poll
- Linton/HMB (11) – 71 points
- Langdon Area/Munich (4) – 51 points
- Flasher – 49 points
- Benson County – 29 points
- Surrey – 5 points
- Received votes: Medina-Pingree/Buchanan, Richland, Wyndmere/Lidgerwood, Kenmare/Bowbells, Edgeley/Kulm/Montpelier, New Rockford-Sheyenne
LA/M, the defending state champion, enters postseason play having dropped from No. 1 to No. 2 in the latest poll. The Cardinals have gone back and forth with Linton/HMB, which now sits at No. 1 with 11 out of 15 first-place votes. LA/M received the remaining four.
Benson County, despite losing a five-setter to NR-S, remained at No. 4 in the latest poll. NR-S has received votes in every poll but has not cracked the top five. The Rockets did recently lose in three sets to non-region Medina-Pingree/Buchanan — a team that is unranked but made the state tournament last year.
If Benson County and NR-S both win their first round, they’ll meet again in the district semifinals.
“That was a big week for us. … We had no time to prepare for a very good district game against New Rockford,” Benson County senior Aubrey Kenner said recently, citing the team’s busy schedule. “And I think this time, we should be better prepared. But also, playing those back-to-back games gives us experience for the other tournaments that we’ll be in.”
Benson County went 26-2 this year. But the two losses were both in district play, with the NR-S match and an earlier three-set loss to LA/M. Even in some of its wins, it lost sets to teams like TGU and Dunseith.
Despite an overall strong season, Wildcats head coach Sheri Stuberg isn’t satisfied with the way they’ve been playing, she said on Tuesday.
“Not allowing the other teams to get any momentum,” Stuberg said of the team’s focus. “We step out. We check out for a little while. And then we let the other team in. Where we could have put it down in three, we take it in five. And we lost to New Rockford. Those kind of things, we can’t just allow them to have that chance. And we haven’t learned how to finish that yet.”
Although there’s an extra round, teams have a potentially easier path to the state tournament this year. With the new volleyball format, a maximum of three teams from the region could make state — just like in basketball. Even if a team loses to LA/M in the region championship (as Benson County did last year), or has to settle for winning the third-place game, it will advance to a state qualifier match in Jamestown.
In last year’s Region 2, seven of the 10 teams had strong, competitive seasons. But under the old format, only one of them could make it to state. The current system opens up more opportunities for teams that are good but not necessarily at the top of the region.
Latest Class A poll
- South Prairie-Max (10) – 69 points
- Carrington (4) – 61 points
- Thompson (1) – 48 points
- May-Port-C-G – 25 points
- Valley City – 12 points
- Received votes: Oak Grove, Dickinson Trinity, Central Cass
Class A still has another couple weeks before the playoffs begin.
Devils Lake is on an uphill climb in Region 2, but it recently knocked down No. 1 Thompson. The Tommies fell two places after that loss, only receiving one first-place vote. They’ve also lost to region opponents Carrington and Grafton.
Carrington is now the No. 2 in Class A. The Cardinals are 27-4 overall and 9-0 in region play.
Thompson is 20-5 overall but just 6-4 in region play.
Nos. 2-4 all come from Region 2. May-Port-C-G rounds out the trio. Although the Firebirds have been more competitive in the new class system, they still find themselves in a pretty tough region.
Devils Lake is 16-13-1 overall and 2-8 in region play. The Firebirds have lost three five-setters to region opponents. They started 0-6 in region play before winning two in a row.
Devils Lake plays Turtle Mountain on the road Tuesday before hosting Carrington on Oct. 30 to complete its regular season.
