Wildcats, Cardinals, Rockets advance in Region 2B volleyball quarterfinals

DEVILS LAKE — Benson County, Langdon Area/Munich and New Rockford-Sheyenne all grabbed victories in Monday’s Class B, Region 2 volleyball quarterfinals at the Devils Lake Sports Center.

North Star lost to Park River/Fordville-Lankin, bringing an end to the Bearcats’ season.

The tournament brought together the top four teams from each of District 3 and District 4. All eight teams had to advance through their respective district tournaments to get here. Now, only four teams from the 17-team region remain.

Here’s a rundown of the four matches, which started Monday mid-afternoon and ended in the late hours of the night.

District 4 No. 4 seed North Star 0, District 3 No. 1 seed Park River/Fordville-Lankin 3

Set scores: 20-25, 20-25, 15-25

The Bearcats (22-12) hung around for the first two sets. But they couldn’t overcome an enormous performance from Lauren Bell, who had 27 kills unofficially for the Aggies (21-14), including five blocks for kill.

North Star got off to a 4-1 lead in the first set, with kills from Karlee Gefroh, Claire Jorde and Annabelle Staus, along with a Teegan Knudson ace. The Aggies came back to tie it at 6-6. North Star clung to a 12-10 lead, but Mackenzie Daley fueled PR/F-L into the lead with two kills in a 5-0 run.

North Star trimmed its deficit as tight as 22-20, but the Aggies took the final three points of the set.

The Bearcats led 6-5 in the second set, and tied it as late as 16-16. They lost the next six points and dropped another 25-20 battle.

PR-F/L pulled away in the third set with a ridiculous 11-kill performance by Bell. Genevieve Ahlberg stepped up in the set for North Star, with six kills after only three in the first two sets.

Ahlberg ended up leading North Star with nine kills overall unofficially, while Jorde and Staus each had eight.

But the Aggies took the final set 25-15 to end the Bearcats’ season.

District 3 No. 3 seed Griggs/Midkota 1, District 4 No. 2 seed Benson County 3

Set scores: 25-19, 25-17, 24-26, 25-13

The Wildcats (29-3) survived a third-set scare to advance to the next round.

Benson County led the third set 22-17 at one point. The Wildcats had two set points, up 24-22, and lost them both. G/M (19-12) took the final four points of the set, with a packed student section cheering on the upset attempt.

Perhaps not coincidentally, Benson County’s momentum came and went with Lacie Fautsch’s production. Fautsch led the Wildcats with 19 kills unofficially. She had seven in the opening set, as Benson County trailed 18-16 but bolted ahead on a 7-0 run. Fautsch had six more kills in the second set as the Wildcats fought off a 12-11 deficit, winning 25-17 and going ahead 2-0 in the match.

But in the third set that got away from Benson County, Fautsch only had two kills. Kenner led the Wildcats in the 26-24 loss with five kills. After letting two set points get away, Benson County had to do a quick regroup on the sideline.

Liberty Streyle proved to be a key spark plug as the Wildcats put the hammer down in the fourth set. Streyle, a setter who recently passed 2,000 career assists as a sophomore, also chipped in with strong serves and even a few hits.

Unlike the first three sets, the Wildcats took control early on in the fourth, going ahead 10-2 right away. G/M fought off one set point.

Fautsch had four kills in the 25-13 win. Kenner finished with 14 total, unofficially. Addisyn Faul added eight, while Isabella Engstrom had six.

District 3 No. 4 seed Cavalier 0, District 4 No. 1 seed Langdon Area/Munich 3

Set scores: 25-8, 25-14, 25-10

LA/M (33-5-1) won the first eight points of the first set and the first 10 points of the third set.

The Tornadoes’ (16-16) best fight came in the second set. It was as close as 11-7 and 15-9. The Cardinals took the final three points of the 25-14 win, ending it on a kill by Mya Swanson.

Freshman phenom Hilary Haaven led LA/M with 13 kills unofficially, along with a pair of aces.

Sophomore middle blocker Taya Feist added six kills. On Feist’s third kill, sophomore setter Kemi Morstad achieved the 1,000th assist of her career.

Sophomore Emma Hall added seven kills and three aces. Swanson totaled six aces.

District 4 No. 3 seed New Rockford-Sheyenne 3, District 3 No. 2 seed Drayton/Valley-Edinburg 1

Set scores: 25-15, 25-15, 19-25, 25-18

For the first two sets, NR-S (25-11) looked like the comfortably better team.

Ava Peterson totaled eight kills and two aces in those sets, with Emmie Belquist adding seven kills. The Rockets had a 6-0 run in the first set and an 8-0 run in the second. They won the final five points of the second set, with both of Peterson’s aces coming in that stretch. Belquist finished the set with a kill.

But in the third set, the Rockets ran into trouble with D/V-E’s blocking game. The Titans (17-15) led 9-3 after a 6-0 run. Elizabeth Fedje, their six-foot middle hitter, had eight kills in the second set, including three off the block.

D/V-E’s largest lead was 20-11. Belquist had three consecutive kills to help the Rockets inch closer, but the Titans still held on for the 25-19 win.

Peterson had five kills in the third set, but none after the Rockets’ 11th point. Belquist also tallied five kills in the set.

NR-S got it going again in the fourth. An early 6-0 run gave the Rockets a 9-4 lead that they never relinquished. Peterson had seven kills in the set, at various speeds, angles and locations.

Kaci Weisenburger also played a pesky blocking game, totaling eight kills unofficially.

Peterson ended up with a team-high 24 kills on the evening, while Belquist totaled 12.

The Rockets won 25-18 in the fourth set to put an end to Monday’s slate of matches.

Tuesday’s semifinal matchups

5:30 p.m. Benson County vs. Park River/Fordville-Lankin

25 min. after previous match: New Rockford-Sheyenne vs. Langdon Area/Munich