Kendall Mueller leads Horace into East Region volleyball title match

Chris Flynn / The Forum By Ryan Spitza Today at 9:47 PM Listen Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? HORACE, N.D. — For the third time in its five seasons as a varsity program, West Fargo Horace is headed to the state volleyball tournament. Led by Kendall Mueller’s 12 kills and four aces, the Hawks defeated West Fargo in straight sets Thursday during the North Dakota Division 2A East Region semifinals at Horace High School. ADVERTISEMENT Set scores were 25-20, 25-15, 25-20. “It feels great because, every year, there’s so many more new girls coming into the gym,” Mueller said of another state tournament berth. “It feels really good because we’ve worked really hard to get here.” Chris Flynn / The Forum It was the sixth consecutive win for No. 2 seed Horace (27-6), which will now play in the East Region tournament championship at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, at Grand Forks Central High School. There, the Hawks will take on top-seeded West Fargo Sheyenne (33-2) to determine the East Region’s top seed at next week’s Division 2A state tournament, set for Nov. 19-21 in Bismarck. The Mustangs — 3-0 winners over No. 5 Fargo Shanley in Thursday’s other semifinal — won both regular-season contests against the Hawks 3-1 and 3-0. “We don’t have any pressure on us, all of the pressure is on them,” Mueller said. “So we’re just going to play loose, have fun and then stick to what Horace volleyball is.” Chris Flynn / The Forum No. 3 seed West Fargo (19-13) will play No. 4 Fargo Davies (17-17) in a state-qualifier match at 11 a.m. Saturday at Grand Forks Central. ADVERTISEMENT The Eagles defeated No. 8 Grand Forks Red River in four sets in an elimination match Thursday. “Honestly, it’s just play our game and compete and see what happens,” West Fargo head coach Stephanie Oliver said. Chris Flynn / The Forum Up 23-20, a Mueller kill and a Joslyn Asplin ace gave the Hawks back-to-back points to secure the opening set. Horace trailed 7-5 early in the second set before eight consecutive points put the Hawks up 13-7. A kill from Horace’s Bostynn Evenson was the eighth point in the scoring run, prompting West Fargo to call timeout. The set ended on an attack error from a ball hit into the net by the Packers. West Fargo built momentum in the third set after jumping out to a 4-0 lead, which included kills from Finly Grefsrud and Aurey Morris. Later, tied at 19-19, back-to-back aces from Mueller followed by a kill from Evenson put the Hawks up three. Horace scored three of the final four points of the set, winning match point on a ball sent long by the Packers. Horace head coach Hadley Plank said her team didn’t panic despite an early deficit in the final set. ADVERTISEMENT “Something I’ve been talking about the last week is, ‘Steady Eddy,’” Plank said. “We want to get high of high, but we don’t want to get too high and we don’t want to get too low. “Sticking with the six that are on the court and on the bench, all playing together, not one person’s going to make or break it for us. That’s been a motto that we’ve had.” Chris Flynn / The Forum The final numbers showed contributions from everybody. Behind Mueller in kills for Horace were sisters Jordan and Coty Christofferson with 10 kills each, while Evenson finished with nine. Courtney Heiser added three aces for the Hawks to go with 21 assists. Defensively, Mueller led with 15 digs. Asplin followed that up with 13 digs with Jordan Christofferson chipping in 12. Oliver said her team's start in the third set is something to build off of. “I think in the third set we calmed down a little bit and we played our game,” Oliver said. “Some calls just didn’t go our way and so it kind of just went to the other side. Now, we’re going to be ready for practice tomorrow and get back to playing on Saturday.” Chris Flynn / The Forum Plank said it’s a relief to have the pressure off as far as qualifying for the state tournament, but her team still wants the East Region crown. ADVERTISEMENT “This is a goal that we’ve been trying to get to this season, game-by-game and practice-by-practice,” Plank said. “We wanted to go into Saturday not having that pressure, and I think all their hard work is paying off.” Mustangs sweep Deacons in semis Peyton Saxlund and Olivia Bratton combined for 33 kills in West Fargo Sheyenne’s East Region semifinal sweep over Fargo Shanley on Thursday at Sheyenne High School. Set scores were 25-18, 25-12, 25-23 as the defending Division AA state champions won their 21st consecutive match. Reilly Bryant added four aces for Sheyenne to go with six kills, while Baylor Dinger recorded 23 digs. Brynlie Richman chipped in three aces, 11 digs and 41 assists. Fifth-seeded Shanley (16-18) will face No. 6 Fargo North (14-21) in a state-qualifier match at 1 p.m. Saturday at Grand Forks Central. The Spartans were straight-set winners over No. 7 Fargo South in an elimination match Thursday. MORE PREP COVERAGE: Packers prove naysayers wrong on road to Dakota Bowl 10h ago Rivals Kindred, Central Cass set for state title clash at Dakota Bowl 14h ago Preps Plus: Region's athletes ink collegiate future on Signing Day 1d ago Chris Flynn / The Forum Chris Flynn / The Forum Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? Tags Tags GIRLS VOLLEYBALL WEST FARGO PACKERS WEST FARGO HORACE HAWKS PREP SPORTS By Ryan Spitza Ryan Spitza joined The Forum in December 2021 as a sports reporter. He grew up in Marquette, Mich., a city of 20,000 on the southern shore of Lake Superior. He majored in multimedia journalism and minored in public relations at Northern Michigan University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in May 2019. While attending college, Spitza gained real-world experience covering high school and college athletics for both The Mining Journal and The North Wind. Spitza can be reached at 701-451-5613 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ryspitza. 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