Mavericks Second at Eastern C

The North Country Mavericks volleyball team earned second place at the 2023 Eastern C Divisional Tournament in Sidney, despite losing in the opening round 1-3 to the Circle Wildcats on Thursday, November 2.

The Mavericks fought back in the elimination bracket defeating the Scobey Spartans 3-0 on Friday, November 2, the Plentywood Wildcats 3-0 on Friday evening, and the Jordan Mustangs 3-0 on Friday night.

"This was maybe the longest day of volleyball we've had this season. I was so proud of the girls hanging in there and really we worked hard on playing better defense and settling into our offense," North Country Mavericks Head Coach Charlene Wasson said.

The team woke up the next morning and defeated Circle 3-0.

"Saturday we felt like we got a second chance by taking on Circle again," Coach Wasson said. "The girls came out with so much vengeance. We put our foot on the pedal from the first serve and kept it floored till the last serve of the match."

The Mavericks lost the championship match with the Broadus Hawks 1-3.

The Mavericks will travel to Bozeman for the second year in a row for state. The team took home their first state trophy last year, finishing in third place in 2022.

This year, they will play in the first round of the 2023 State C Volleyball Tournament against the Northern C Champion Belt Huskies, who they faced in the first round last year and defeated 3-2. Their rematch is scheduled to take place on Thursday, November 9, at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse at 4 p.m.

In the Mavs' Eastern C Championship loss to Broadus, the scores were 30-32, 25-21, 15-25, and 9-25.

"In the Championship we were keeping our play steady," Coach Wasson said. "We lost the first set and won the second then lost a close third but felt like we got caught on one or two servers to throw us off in the last set."

The Mavericks were led by Teagan Erickson, who had 19 kills and three blocks. Paige Wasson had 13 kills and 14 digs. Kendall Scheffelmear had seven kills and three blocks. Kennedy Simonson had 25 assists. Simonson and Berkley Hillman each had nine digs. BaiLee and CharLee McColly each had one block.

In their Elimination Semi-final match with Circle, the scores were 25-19, 25-17, and 25-12. Erickson had 24 kills, three aces, and one block. P. Wasson had 16 kills, 13 assists, and 12 digs. Simonson had 34 assists and nine digs. Hillman and Ireland Mears both had nine digs. B. McColly had three blocks.

In their win over Jordan, the scores were 25-21, 25-19, and 25-20. Erickson had 19 kills, 11 digs, and two blocks. Wasson had 15 kills and 15 digs. Simonson had 30 assists. Mears had 12 digs. Hillman has 10 digs. Scheffelmear had seven kills and five blocks. B. McColly had two blocks.

The scores in their win over Plentywood were 25-20, 25-21, and 25-13. The stat leaders: Team Aces five. Team Kills 37: P. Wasson and Erickson each with 12, and Scheffelmear seven. Team Assists 31: Kennedy Simonson 20, Wasson six, and C. McColly three. Team Digs 58: P. Wasson 17, Simonson, Mears, and Hillman each with eight. Team Blocks seven: Scheffelmear three, Erickson two, Simonson and McColly each with one.

The scores against Plentywood were 25-20, 25-22, and 25-11. The stat leaders: Team Aces five. Team Kills 42: Erickson 21, P. Wasson 15, Scheffelmear five. Team Assists 41: Simonson 35.

Team Digs 41: P. Wasson and Mears each with eight, Hillman seven, and Scheffelmear six. Team Blocks five : B. McColly and C. McColly each with two, and Kendall Scheffelmear one.

In their opening round loss to Circle, the scores were 23-25, 25-18, 23-25, and 20-25. Team Aces seven: Hillman four. Team Assists 54: Simonson 42. Team Kills 55: Erickson 25, P. Wasson 20, and Scheffelmear nine. Team Digs 84: P. Wasson 21, Simonson and Hillman each with 11. Team Blocks four: B. McColly three, C. McColly one.