Girls volleyball competed in the 2023 State Volleyball Tournament at the FargoDome the weekend of Nov. 16. Upsets at the EDC and WDA tournaments created a bracket that put what many expected to be the championship game as the first round game: Jamestown and Fargo North.
For most of the season, Fargo North was ranked first in the state. In the EDC tournament, they won their first game against South, bringing them to the EDC semi-finals. There, they lost to the Sheyenne Mustangs 1-3. North fought their way through a 3-2 win over the West Fargo Packers to clinch the three seed spot for the state tournament.
The team fought hard to make it to state said head coach Rachel Hummel “For a coach is different, you know, that feeling, but I knew that we could come back stronger the next day, I was nervous to see how the players would come back with such a tough loss, and it definitely added some pressure for that last day. But I was really proud of how they just overcame that and it was like that Sheyenne game never happened and they were all just so ready to go,” she said.
Jamestown was projected to be the number one seed from the west going into the tournament as well. With a huge 3-0 upset by Bismarck Century, they came into the tourney as the two seed.
The first-round game against Jamestown was a hard 3-2 loss. The Spartans won the second and fourth sets, but dropped the other three in close margins.
“It was hard but we were also happy. We all know that we played our hearts out and we felt good about how we played. Knowing that Jamestown has been our biggest contestant all season, we knew there would be a lot of pressure. But we played as hard as we could, no matter the points,” said senior setter Betsy Schiltz.
Senior libero Evy Berg broke the state record of digs in a state tournament match, with 62 digs. The previous record was 49 in 2020 by Mandan. “I didn’t even know I had broken it, I obviously wasn’t counting my digs in the game but I was honestly really surprised. It’s kind of surreal though, you hear about people breaking the record, but when you actually do it, it is such a crazy feeling,” said Berg.
The Spartans moved on to the consolation semifinals where they swept Bismarck 3-0. In the consolation championship, they swept Bismarck Century 3-0. The girls ended their season with a 5th-place trophy.
In addition to Berg’s record and a fifth place trophy, Hummel was named Volleyball Coach of the Year. “It was never an expected thing, I like to keep things private and kinda live in my own world. But it is really nice to be recognized, and it’s definitely more than just me, our assistant coaches, and even the players help with coaching each other too, so it was a whole team effort on that,” said Hummel.
While their season didn’t end how they wanted, the girls loved the whole state experience, “I think that with us being at home, it was so much more fun than us being in Bismarck. The rowdy crowd really helped with the game’s atmosphere,” said junior hitter Solei Berg.
North had three athletes named to the First Team All State: seniors E. Berg and Schiltz and junior S. Berg. This is a well deserving award for all three athletes. They were also named to the All-EDC team with sophomore middle Audrey Rydell.
The girls had an overall very strong regular season ending in first place with a record of 17-2. They never lost a home game this year either. “After our loss of seniors last year, we kind of thought it was going to be hard, but, the chemistry this team has, it was definitely a season to remember,” said E. Berg.
The girls will be losing six seniors this year including starting libero E. Berg and starting setter Schiltz. Other seniors include hitters Ali Thykeson and Anna Nelson, and defensive players Brynn Summers and Kira Olson. These ladies will be missed next year and the returning players will miss the impact they had on the team.
“I think it’s going to be tough having to replace our libero and setters, but I mean, I have faith in my juniors and underclassmen. I think we will be able to put up a fight and contest against some of the stronger teams,” said junior hitter Carrie Osier.
It will be a fun season next year as the girls have seven varsity players returning who are excited to keep the state momentum going.