HWC's season ends with loss to Cougars

When the four seed and five seed match up in the first round of any tournament, one would expect a great match, and even though this match was only three sets, the games were close throughout, with many ties and some fantastic rallies.

The fourth seeded North Prairie Cougars were on the positive end of all of the great finishes, as they finished off each game with a solid run to defeat the four seed Harvey-Wells County, 3-0, in the opening round of the Region 4 Volleyball Tournament at the Devils Lake Sports Center on Monday, November 6, thus ending the Hornets' season.

The opening set was an exciting game from the start. The teams were tied nine times in the first 11 points, with neither team holding more than a two- point advantage. The set was tied again at 15 and 16 before HWC found a little separation. A double hit and an attack error by the Cougars was followed by an ace from Rachel Neumiller, as the Hornets had the biggest lead of the night at three and led 19-16. A timeout from North Prairie was what the Cougars needed, as they came back out on fire. An ace from Jenna Rosinski was followed up by a kill from Madison Samuelson, and HWC was quickly behind by one. Two more Rosinski aces and two more Samuelson kills ended a 9-0 run and one of the aforementioned fantastic finishes for the Cougars, as they defeated the Hornets, 25-19, in set one.

North Prairie started strong in game two, as several HWC attack errors resulted in a 8-5 Cougar lead. The Hornets responded immediately with an Ashley Keller kill tying the game at nine. Samuelson and Braylee Keller traded several kills midway through the second set as the game was tied six more times before being knotted at 17. Back-to-back aces from Rachel Neumiller lifted the Hornets to a 19-17 lead and a kill from Christalea Wagner made the score 20-18. Hailey Peltier's kill tied the game at 20 and with an ace from Samuelson and three kills in a row from Kenzy Wouri, the Cougars had another great finish for the 25-21 win.

The final and deciding game of the night was controlled from the start by North Prairie, at least it appeared to be. The Cougars got an abundance of kills from Peltier and Rosinski as they built a 10-6 advantage. Ashley Keller's back-to-back kills pulled HWC to within two but then Samuelson got hot. The junior smashed down four kills in seven points and the Cougar lead grew to what seemed an insurmountable advantage of 20-13. And then came a huge HWC run. Neumiller started the scoring off with a kill which was followed by two attack errors from North Prairie. The next six points saw Neumiller with two more kills and Ashley Keller with three more as HWC had an 8-0 run and a 21-20 lead. A Rosinski kill was followed up by two errors from North Prairie giving HWC a 23-21 lead. A Hornet service error and net violation tied the game at 23 and with Samuleson's 19th and 20th kill of the night, the Cougars saw another great finish claiming the 26-24 win and 3-0 sweep of the Hornets.

Samuelson had a match to remember as she connected for 20 kills and added 18 digs and two aces. Jenna Rosinski was also on top of her game as the junior had nine kills,17 digs and four aces. Peltier chipped in with 10 kills and Brinley Bassingthwaite dished out 37 assists for the Cougars who will play Langdon Area-Edmore-Munich in the semi-finals. The Hornets were led by Neumiller's seven kills, 14 digs and three aces. Braylee Keller had five kills and 12 digs while Brooklyn Dockter added 12 digs to go along with 19 assists from Kali Fike.

The Hornets end their 2023 volleyball campaign at 10-7 during regular season play with a scattering of wins, losses and ties in the three tournaments played.

Region 4 Volleyball

Tournament, Devils Lake

Quarterfinals

North Prairie 3, HWC 0

HWC 19 21 24 - 0

NP 25 25 26 - 3

HWC Individual Stats

Kills: Rachel Neumiller 7, Braylee Keller 5, Ashley Keller and Christalea Wagner 4, Kali Fike and Maci Reutter 1.

Aces: Neumiller 3, Brooklyn Dockter and A. Keller 1.

Assists: Fike 19, Dockter, B. Keller and Neumiller 1.

Blocks: A. Keller and B. Keller 1.

Digs: Neumiller 14, Dockter and B. Keller 12, Wagner 7, Ava Haldorson 6, Fike 5, A. Keller 3, Rylee Jones and Reutter 2.

North Prairie Individual Stats

Kills: Madison Samuelson 20, Hailey Peltier 10, Jenna Rosinski 9, Kenzy Wuori 4, Elizabeth Smith 3, Brinley Bassingthwaite 1.

Aces: Rosinski 4, Samuelson and Smith 2, Wuori 1.

Assists: Bassingthwaite 37, Peltier 2, Rosinski, Samuelson and Smith 1.

Blocks: Smith and Wuori 1.

Digs: Samuelson 18, Rosinski 17, Peltier 12, Bassingthwaite 7, Mylee Martell 5, Alaejha Grant 4, Smith and Wuori 2.