Photo via Leeds Public School Athletics and Activities on Facebook
ROLLA — Benson County couldn’t quite crack through against the defending state champions Monday night.
But with a region tournament berth already secured, the Wildcats were able to hold their heads high as the No. 2 seed from District 4.
“It’s not the ‘defeat’ feeling,” Benson County head coach Sheri Stuberg said.
The Wildcats pulled out a barnburner just to get there. In the semifinals last Friday, they had a rematch with New Rockford-Sheyenne — a team that beat them in five sets during the regular season. The Rockets were the regular-season No. 2 seed, while the Wildcats were No. 3.
The two squads went to five sets again — and this time, Benson County won. The Wildcats blew a 2-0 match lead but managed to hold on in the fifth set. They were led by a whopping 28 kills from Lacie Fautsch.
“That was huge,” Stuberg said. “We talked about this, that you’re not gonna get 28 kills a night. And it’s somebody else’s night to pop up and be a player this game, and we had some that did. The game against New Rockford, it was a fun game.”
So Benson County played for the District 4 championship Monday night at Rolla Public School against the vaunted Langdon Area/Munich. The Wildcats fell just short of an upset in the first set, with a 25-23 Cardinals win, then lost the next two sets 25-21 and 25-18.
Benson County has a 28-3 overall record. Two of those losses came to LA/M.
“We played some harder teams at the end of the season, and we needed that maybe a little earlier in the season, so that we could know what we were gonna face,” Stuberg said. “And they were ready. We just have some more tweaking to do.”
On Monday, Benson County’s leading attacker was senior Aubrey Kenner. She led the team with 13 kills unofficially — including two in the first set that put her past the 1,000 mark for her career.
Kenner has now surpassed 1,000 points in basketball and 1,000 kills in volleyball.
Isabella Engstrom and Addisyn Faul also contributed with kills in the first set to help keep it close. After an ace by Liberty Streyle, the Wildcats only trailed 11-10.
Down 24-19, Benson County fought off four set points to breathe some life into the sideline.
“It’s really cool to see some of the kids that show up tonight in the game,” Stuberg said. “It’s different kids each night who are gonna be the leaders on the team. And that was fun to see tonight. They fought.”
The Wildcats’ comeback fell just short. But immediately after the first set, in addition to Kenner’s accomplishment, another big milestone was announced: Streyle, Benson County’s sophomore setter, surpassed 2,000 career assists.
That’s not a typo. Streyle reached 1,000 assists last November as a freshman.
“That’s amazing,” Stuberg said. “She’s a young kid, and she’s got so much more to do. I think our whole team, our team has just been growing, and the future is bright.”
Stuberg said that Streyle’s work ethic and effort stand out.
“She hustles. She works in the offseason. Volleyball is her thing,” Stuberg said. “She just works her butt off.”
In the second set, Benson County got four consecutive aces from Fautsch to take a 7-4 lead.
“That was awesome. That was exciting,” Stuberg said. “She’s got a lot of power behind her.”
The Cardinals took off with a 13-1 run to go up 22-12. But the Wildcats still gave themselves a fighting chance, fending off six straight set points. Kenner found different angles around the court, while Kaitlyn Maddock chipped in with a couple of aces.
Benson County fell behind in the match 2-0 despite scoring over 20 points in each set.
“I thought we adapted well from the first time we played them,” Stuberg said. “And then they showed us some different stuff that we just didn’t quite change and and adapt throughout the game.”
The Wildcats ran out of gas a little bit in the third set, trailing 22-15 after a 7-1 run by the Cardinals.
They fell 25-18 to cap the night.
“I think in the third set, we just lost our confidence,” Stuberg said. “I think we had it going in the first and second. And then we didn’t capitalize when we did have it. We just lost it, and we never got back. We never found our groove in the third.”
The Wildcats still set themselves up well for the regional seeding. Benson County’s first-round opponent will be Griggs/Midkota, the No. 3 seed from District 3, on Monday at the Devils Lake Sports Center.
After the match Monday night, Stuberg was named the Coach of the Year for District 4. Kenner, Fautsch and Streyle were all-district selections.
