Mavericks Bring Home Hardware

The 2022 North Country Mavericks volleyball team added to their history making season by not only competing at the State C Volleyball tournament for the co-op's first time, but earning a third place trophy at the 2022 event after going 3-2 last weekend in Bozeman.

"Our first trip to State as a North Country Maverick co-op was a huge success," Mavericks Head Coach Charlene Wasson said. "I feel very blessed to be part of something very special. I'm super proud of all 17 girls on this team and my assistant coaches. Each one of them brought an element to practice and matches that was needed to keep us moving forward and getting better every day."

The PCN caught up with team-captain Paige Wasson, a junior, and several other team leaders after the All-Class State Volleyball Tournament, which started on Thursday, November 10, and concluded on Saturday, November 12.

"I know that most of us didn't expect to bring home hardware," said Wasson, who had a triple-double in four of five games. "We were just happy to be there. We were playing to play; just to have fun. Coaches told us to go out there and play our game and we did! It was really fun."

Fellow junior Teagen Erickson was the team's leader in kills, averaging 14.8 kills in the team's five games. She was asked what was her favorite moment at the tournament.

"The whole thing was just a blast," Erickson said. "It's a whole different experience, so I think just being there was my favorite part."

The Mavericks earned the third place trophy by defeating the Chinook Sugarbeeters 3-1 in the fourth place match on Friday, November 11, in the fourth place match. 

The Mavericks took on the Manhattan Christian Eagles in the third place match on the morning of Saturday, November 12, that would've put them in the finals, but the Mavericks fell 0-3. Manhattan, who also handed the Mavericks their first loss in the semi-finals, went on to win the State C title over Bridger Saturday afternoon.

This year's senior class was the first class of Mavericks, given that the co-op consisting of Saco, Hinsdale, and Whitewater was formed when Kora LaBrie, Mattea McColly, Cienna Strommen, and manager Ashton Smith were fifth graders. LaBrie was asked what it meant to win a trophy in volleyball during her senior season.

"I am really proud of our team because if I am being honest, I am really happy that we made it to state," LaBrie said. "I wanted to get a trophy at state, but I wasn't expecting to. I was kind of mind-blown when we won that game. It's super exciting and I am super proud of this team because we have gotten so much better over this season."

In all, Coach Wasson said that the team had traveled a total of 17,258.4 miles this season amongst the three schools.

"We all started as three separate towns and from what my parents said in the past, our towns were huge rivals," McColly said. "To come together as a big community and to be one big family between the three towns means a lot."

In the Mavericks' trophy clinching win over Chinook, the scores were 25-19, 21-25, 29-13, and 25-22.

The Mavericks were led by junior Paige Wasson, who had 23 kills, 19 assists, 17 digs, and two aces.

The last point of the victory over Chinook was Wasson's favorite of the entire tournament.

"I don't remember if it was a very long volley, but I remember that I had a good pass, good set (from a teammate), I killed it, and we won!"

Erickson had 22 kills, 14 digs, and two blocks.

Being 6-2, Erickson was the go-to hitter on most of the attacks. She was asked how she approaches hits, knowing that opposing teams were aiming to slow her down.

"You kind of have to analyze where the blockers are first but mainly try to cut the ball around the blocker or over the top," she said. "It doesn't always work, but I try."

After the win, Mattea McColly and LaBrie shared a moment.

"Mattea looked at me and she was like, 'Kora! We are getting a state trophy!'" LaBrie said. "We were both just in shock. The whole team was excited."

M. McColly remembered her reaction.

"It almost didn't seem real at all," McColly said. "We really aren't a volleyball team. We just play, but we are all very, very, very competitive, and we don't like losing. So we know that we all have the ability to step up. Once that ball hit the floor, we didn't know what happened. We hit the locker room and were confused. We all knew what happened but it really didn't hit us."

Kennedy Simonson had 16 assists. LaBrie, the team's Libero, had a team-leading 24 digs. LaBrie was asked how she was able to keep her composure against the top hitters in Class C last weekend.

"We kind of talked about where the hitters would hit most of the time and we adjusted our defense to where they hit the most," LaBrie said. "Sometimes you just have to read the hitters and angles in volleyball. Adjusting our defense was the biggest thing that helped us."

She was asked how it was playing under the pressures of being the team's lead passer against the aggressive offenses that they faced.

"I was Libero and I've been doing it all season, and I like being in the back row and passing the ball," LaBrie said. "It is something that I enjoy doing."

Berkley Hillman had six assists and Kendall Scheffelmear had two blocks.

Strommen's main job was serving this season, at many times in spots that had more pressure than most.

"My back-thought was, okay, I have got to get this over if we want to have a chance at winning this," Strommen said. "So I put it in the perspective of my team. I have to do this for my team because if I don't, then that would be bad."

Strommen didn't remember things going her way throughout the early part of the tournament, but she remembers getting a late ace in the win over Chinook.

"I was like, yes! That was just what we needed," Strommen said. "That was one down. I have to get another one."

Strommen had a foot injury that limited her playing time her junior season. She had only served in a couple of junior varsity games in 2021. She was asked what it meant to be a part of this year's team.

"It's been great, because I didn't play at all last year.... But this year, I was just excited to play," Strommen said. "I was doing my best in practice to try to get back on my feet and try to get into my old flow. I was super excited that I got to serve."

As for earning a trophy, her senior season, Strommen was pleased.

"It's the best possible way that I could end my season," Strommen said. "For all of our seniors. It was the first time making it to state and the first time getting hardware. This is amazing."

In the team's third place loss to Manhattan Christian, the scores were 16-25, 23-25, and 19-25.

Wasson led the charge for the Mavericks with 16 kills, 10 of which came in the first set. She also had nine assists in the game.

"I was pretty pumped because I was on a roll," Wasson said of the opening set. "They couldn't really block me and they are all pretty tall. They are all six foot and over, so it was pretty awesome."

Erickson had 11 kills and one block. Simonson had a team-leading 13 assists. LaBrie had nine digs. Scheffelmear had three kills and six digs.

The Mavs' win over Twin Bridges on Friday, qualified North Country for the fourth place match. The Mavericks were down 0-2, before ultimately winning the last three sets. The scores were 13-25, 16-25, 25-21, 26-24, and 15-8.

The team was led by Wasson who had 26 assists, 18 kills, and 18 assists. Erickson had a game-leading 26 kills.

LaBrie had a team-leading 19 digs. B. McColly had 3 digs. Simonson had 11 assists and Hillman had five assists. Scheffelmear had five kills.

Erickson, BaiLee McColly, and Scheffelmear each had two blocks.

In their opening match, the Mavericks took down the Northern C Champion Belt Huskies 3-2. The scores were 26-28, 21-25, 26-24, 25-23, and 16-14.

Erickson was asked about being on the court for the first time at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.

"There is so much going on at one time," Erickson said. "There were so many people and they had all of the classes there and it was a cool experience. When you walk in and see all four courts, it is amazing."

Wasson led the charge with 26 assists, 17 kills, and 17 digs. Erickson had 26 kills and two blocks.

LaBrie had 29 digs. Scheffelmear had five kills, 20 digs, and one block. Simonson had 13 assists. Hillman had six assists. B. McColly had two blocks.

In their second round loss to Manhattan Christian, the Mavericks won the first set from the defending state champions 25-23, but the Eagles were dominant in the second through fourth sets and won 3-1. The scores in the last three sets were 14-25, 16-25, and 10-25.  

"Manhattan Christian is just always so solid for volleyball," Erickson said. "I think that we were really excited to play them because they are always the top dogs. It's also nerve-wracking because they have really good hitters, but we took the first set away from them which was really awesome. We were surprised but excited."

Erickson had a team-leading 15 kills, tied with Manhattan's Katelyn VanKirk. North Country's Wasson had another triple double consisting of 10 kills, 12 assists, and 10 digs.

Erickson was asked if she felt that their first loss to the Eagles helped improve their play for the rest of the weekend.

"I think it did," Erickson said. "Taking that loss, we knew that we had to get back and play well in the next game against Twin Bridges and I think that we did that. We knew that we had nothing to lose and that we were the underdogs coming into the tournament. We knew that if we played our best and played together, that we could go out and get a few good wins."