The Official Newspaper for Foster County
The enormity of the potential accomplishment for the Carrington Cardinal volleyball team was close at hand.
Down two sets to the back-to-back reigning state champions in Linton-HMB, the Cards pulled off a comeback for the ages in the third and fourth sets, and were up 5-1 in the decisive fifth set, 10 points shy of the biggest, or at least the most emotional, victory in program history.
However, the big game experience of the Lions shone through on the next critical seven point-run, capped by several Shaylee Bosch kills, and Linton-HMB staved off their biggest scare of the season with a 3-2 win in the championship match over CHS, 25-14, 25-17, 22-25, 21-25 and 15-7 at the Region 3 Tournament.
The loss put a sudden end to a great Cinderella run for the Cards (28-9), winners of two straight sweeps over Strasburg-Zeeland and LaMoure/Litchville-Marion to reach the final round.
"Obviously, we weren't ready for the season to be over, but I'm just so proud of the girls," said Head Coach Megan Trautman. "I really felt like they came together, played as a team, and were just really fearless. Also, they played with a great deal of heart and joy."
In the first set, Linton-HMB (36-1) came out like gangbusters, as Bosch, the eventual Region 3 Senior Athlete of the Year, and Kaylee Weninger set the tone early with several emphatic kills to blitz the Cardinal back row, and they would take an 11-point win in the opener.
Set two featured the Cards playing a bit more assertive, but a late Linton run in the set put Trautman's team in a must-win situation after falling by an eight-point margin.
That's when CHS' resilience took over. The Cardinal back row of Haley Wolsky, Kacie Rexin, Isabel Wendel, Allison Jarrett and Mya Schroeder began to frustrate the Lions with saves of sure points, and they rode that good feeling to a season-saving 25-22 win in the third set.
Now with a renewed sense of purpose, the Cards continued that rally into set four, and took a four-point win that started to put some doubts into the Lions' confidence.
"The girls attacked, attacked and attacked, which led to our success," said Trautman. "The back row just covered the floor so well, and they read and reacted to the ball the best they ever have."
But in the end, it was the big right arm of Bosch that helped carry the day. She would lead all players in kills by far with 29, and added a team-high four aces, along with being the Lions' co-leader with three blocks. Weninger also contributed 13 kills and Paige Hulm 10 more.
Another eye-popping statistic for Linton-HMB was setter Gracie Schumacher's 60 assists. Hulm was the top back row player for the Lions with 18 digs, followed by Grace Keeney and Schumacher with 15 apiece.
Wolsky, in her final match as a Cardinal, led the team with 11 kills and 28 digs. The balanced rotation was working well for CHS, with Emma Hone and Kennedy Wendel adding eight kills and Hone ruling the nets for six blocks. On defense, the block was also aided by three stuffs apiece by Kennedy Wendel and Wolsky.
Isabel Wendel passed for 25 assists and Rexin 13 for a total of 38.
The Cards will lose five seniors to graduation, those being Kennedy Wendel, Wolsky, Jarrett, Schroeder and Hone.
Linton-HMB earned the number two overall seed in the State B Tournament, which began last Thursday at the Bismarck Event Center. Their surprise opponent was Region 4 champion New Rockford-Sheyenne, a 3-1 upset winner over perennial state contender Langdon/Edmore/Munich at their tournament in Devils Lake.
Other first round matchups pitted third-seeded Thompson against Garrison, top seed Northern Cass opposite Our Redeemer's, and the #4/#5 match put Kenmare/Bowbells against Dickinson Trinity.
Region 3 Volleyball
Tournament, Napoleon
Championship
Linton-HMB 3, Carrington 2
Cgtn. 14 17 25 25 7 - 2
LHMB 25 25 22 21 15 - 3
Carrington Individual Stats
Kills: Haley Wolsky 11, Emma Hone and Kennedy Wendel 8, Madison Johnson and Isabel Wendel 6, Edyn Hoornaert 4, Allison Jarrett and Kacie Rexin 1.
Aces: Mya Schroeder 1.
Assists: I. Wendel 25, Rexin 13, Hoornaert and Schroeder 1.
Blocks: Hone 6, K. Wendel and Wolsky 3, Hoornaert and I. Wendel 2, Johnson 1.
Digs: Wolsky 28, Rexin 18, I. Wendel 17, Jarrett and Schroeder 16, K. Wendel 6, Johnson 4.
Linton-HMB Individual Stats
Kills: Shaylee Bosch 29, Kaylee Weninger 13, Paige Hulm 10, Lacey Bosch 9, Gracie Schumacher and Emma Weiser 6.
Aces: S. Bosch 4, Grace Keeney 3, G. Schumacher 2.
Assists: G. Schumacher 60, Hulm 6, S. Bosch and Weiser 2, Emma Schick and Brooklyn Schumacher 1.
Blocks: S. Bosch and Weninger 3, Weiser 2, G. Schumacher 1.
Digs: Hulm 18, Keeney and G. Schumacher 15, Schick 13, S. Bosch 10, L. Bosch and Weiser 4, B. Schumacher and Weninger 3.