Mavericks go 2-0, to face three teams this week

The North Country Mavericks Volleyball team bounced back with a pair of wins last week, defeating the Harlem Lady Wildcats last Tuesday, September 21, and then the Lustre Christian Lions on Friday, September 24.

The Lady Mavericks will face the Glasgow Lady Scotties on Thursday, September 30, at 4:30 p.m. They will then host the Plentywood Lady Wildcats in Saco on Friday, October 1, 4:30 p.m. The team's last game of the week is scheduled to be an away game against Froid-Lake on Saturday, October 2, at 5 p.m. The team's game against Fairview was rescheduled to Saturday, October 9, at 6 p.m. The team will play Savage that morning, prior to their game against Fairview.

The scores in North Country's win over Harlem in Whitewater were 25-21, 25-19, and 25-10. The win came after North Country's two-game losing streak last week.

The PCN caught up with Maverick senior captains Jaycee Erickson and Zandora Longtree after the game.

"We came together as a team this game," Erickson said. "We talked a lot and switched our rotations up. Just coming together as a team and playing together as a team helped us get this win."

Mavericks Head Coach Charlene Wasson was impressed with how hard the team fought to get the win, especially in the third set.

"We finally got rolling in the third set of this match," Mavericks Head Coach Charlene Wasson said. "Our tempo and timing has been off the past two weeks but I think we will settle into our rotation and start working more fluid in our matches."

Coach Wasson compiled full team stats in the team's win.

Aces: Zandora Longtree five, Jaycee Erickson three, Teagan Erickson, and Mattea McColly each with one.

Kills: Teagan Erickson nine, Paige Wasson eight, McColly three, Longtree, J. Erickson, Berkley Hillman, and Shelbi LaBrie each with one.

Assists: Jaycee Erickson 10, Zandora Longtree six, Paige Wasson, Hillman, and LaBrie each with one.

Digs: Zandora Longtree seven, Jaycee Erickson and Kora LaBrie each with five, Wasson three, T. Erickson, McColly, and LaBrie each with one.

Blocks: T. Erickson three, McColly one.

"We were able to see some players really get their timing down on their hits and we really dominated the front row with blocks and touch blocks," Coach Wasson said.

Scoring 12 total points at the team's net, T. Erickson was asked of her aggressive approach to the net that night.

"I was just trying to get to every block, which helps the team out the most, and getting my timing down on my hits so that they were more effective," T. Erickson said.

The team posted another 3-0 win over Lustre in Hinsdale last Friday. The scores were 25-11, 25-4, and 25-12.

Longtree had two of her five aces in the first three serves of the third set.

"I just needed to get the ball in and not too hard so that it wouldn't hit the net or go out," Longtree said.

"Lustre is a very young program with three players who are sophomores from last season and everyone else is new to volleyball," Coach Wasson said. "We had some good flow to our game and we worked on some rotations, and let our JV kids play in the last set so everyone, all 12 players, served in the match."

Stats by Coach Wasson:

Aces: Zandora Longtree 11, Jaycee Erickson five, Shelbi LaBrie three, and Teagan Erickson two.

Kills: Wasson six, T. Erickson five, J. Erickson four, Berkley Hillman four, Mattea McColly three, Longtree, Codi Donniaquo, Jessa Erickson, and Layna Jones each with one.

Assists: J. Erickson eight, P. Wasson five, Longtree, Ava Reyes, and LaBrie each with one.

Digs: Kora LaBrie two, Longtree, and Paige Wasson each with one.

Blocks: Paige Wasson one.

"We were able to work on a few things specifically in this match asking kids to spot serve and run some different sets on offense that we haven't had a chance to in the season this far," Coach Wasson said.