Photo by Noah Clooten
JAMESTOWN — A state qualifier doesn’t get much tougher than facing the No. 1-ranked team in the state.
But that’s the hand Benson County was dealt Saturday in the state qualifier round at Harold Newman Arena.
The Wildcats, ranked No. 4 during the regular season, made it this far after beating New Rockford-Sheyenne in the Region 2 third-place game. Linton/HMB, ranked No. 1 — ahead of even Langdon Area/Munich, the Region 2 champion — moved to this game after losing in five sets to Medina-Pingree/Buchanan in the Region 1 championship.
Benson County fended off match deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 on Saturday. A fifth-set loss ultimately put an end to the Wildcats’ season.
Their final record was 30-5.
“They played an awesome game,” Benson County head coach Sheri Stuberg said. “They didn’t have anything to be ashamed of. It was a well-fought game. They didn’t lose in three. They fought hard until the end. It was anybody’s game.”
Set scores from Benson County’s perspective were 14-25, 25-18, 17-25, 25-23, then 9-15 in the tiebreaker.
Linton/HMB was paced by 11 kills each from Emmrey Baumgartner and Sawyer Hendrickson. Aubrey Kenner led the Wildcats with 13.
The Lions took off with a 6-0 run in the middle of the first set to win 25-14 and grab the early advantage.
“I felt like they were a lot like us,” Stuberg said, “where you have your hitters that can put the ball down, and then you have the good defense behind you to put it up. They really handled our serves well.”
Benson County opened the second set strong and maintained a marginal lead. The Wildcats had a 6-0 run of their own to separate themselves.
The Lions tightened up and made some errors. Kenner had three kills in the set, while Lacie Fautsch and Brylee Stuberg blocked well up front.
A 25-18 Benson County win tied the match at a set apiece.
“We were being aggressive,” Stuberg said of the biggest difference in Benson County’s success.
Early in the third set, the Wildcats trailed 6-3 before a kill by Addisyn Faul and back-to-back by Kenner knotted it up. Linton/HMB went on to win five in a row, sparked by Macy Hase and Hendrickson.
The Lions separated their lead to 18-9. Benson County got four consecutive points back, as Isabella Engstrom came up with a kill and Liberty Streyle smacked three straight aces.
Linton/HMB still held on to win 25-17. It capped the set on kills from Hendrickson and Baumgartner.
With the Lions in the driver’s seat, the Wildcats played nearly even with them in the fourth set. Neither team led by more than two points until a 3-0 run by Linton/HMB, putting Benson County in a 22-18 hole.
The Wildcats were a few points away from losing this match in four.
But, after a wisely placed timeout, B. Stuberg volleyed a kill to get Benson County on track. Fautsch, who had five kills and three blocks in the set, had one of each back-to-back as the Wildcats got the set within one.
On Fautsch’s kill, which cut the deficit to 22-21, Streyle had a nice block to set things up.
A kill by Hendrickson for the Lions made it 23-21. But Benson County heated up at the right time. Each team was playing its tightest, yet most determined, volleyball. The longest point of the night ended in a confident kill from Fautsch.
Perhaps the biggest cheers from Benson County’s side thus far came on a net violation — tying it up at 23 apiece.
Kenner smashed one that initially looked like it might have sailed long, but it was ruled to be a tip, giving Kenner the go-ahead kill. Fautsch put away the set with another kill.
The Wildcats squeaked away with a 25-23 win, sending the match to a fifth set.
Each team’s state chances came down to a 15-point do-or-die decider.
Benson County trailed 3-1 before winning four in a row. Faul, who totaled seven kills on the night, secured the kill that tied it amidst that run.
With the Wildcats up 6-4, Linton/HMB took four in a row of its own. The first point was a Hailey Bosch kill, while the next three were Benson County errors.
“I think in the fifth one, we were getting nervous, and we were holding back,” Stuberg said. “We were so nervous that we were making mistakes on our own.”
A 5-0 run gave Linton/HMB a 13-7 lead. It put the Wildcats on their heels. Benson County’s final two points came on service errors, with the Lions putting a 15-9 win away on a Baumgartner kill.
Benson County’s season ended in a heartbreaker with a valiant effort. Fans on the sideline remarked how this matchup could have been a state semifinal, with two of the top four ranked teams in the regular season.
But only one of them could move on. It turned out to be Linton/HMB, which improved to 35-4-1 on the season as it clinched a state berth.
The high school volleyball careers of four Benson County seniors came to an end Saturday: Kenner, Engstrom, Kale Williams and Olivia Follman.
But the Wildcats have a lot of good they can remember from this season. They were one of just six teams in Class B to win 30 matches, entering Saturday’s action.
And they have seven sophomores on the squad who will become upperclassmen next fall.
“We have a lot of good talent coming up,” Stuberg said. “And I think we’re gonna be a strong contender for the near future. That’s for sure. Everything I see coming up is looking good, too.”
