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It was deja vu at the 2023 North Dakota high school state volleyball tournament with not one, but two repeat state champions! Despite finishing with the fifth best record in the Eastern Dakota Conference in the regular season, West Fargo Sheyenne swept both the EDC tournament and state tournament titles to close out the year. One week after defeating Shanley 3-2 for the EDC tournament title, the Mustangs took down the Deacons again for the Class A state championship in four sets. Sheyenne senior Izzy Albrecht finished the match with seven kills, four blocks and three digs. The Mustangs were led in kills by junior Alexa Killoran who finished with nine to go with 21 digs and two ace serves. Senior Mia Engel led the Mustangs with 28 digs. For Shanley, junior outside hitter Katelyn Ommen finished with 12 kills to lead the way while Hannah Kotrba finished with a team-high 28 digs.

In Class B, it was a repeat for the Northern Cass Jaguars who took down MayPort-C-G in four sets. Senior standout Josie Jensen, our 2023 Midco Sports Class B Player of the Year, tallied a match-high 17 kills while teammates Ellie Lucas and Haidyn Crockett both had nine. Addy Rust and Paige Bosch both topped 20 assists for the Jaguars. Despite the loss, the Patriots did accomplish a feat that not many teams have lately. They avoided a sweep by the Jaguars which snapped Northern Cass' 9-match sweep streak going into the state championship match. MayPort-C-G settled for runner-up honors in their first appearance at state since 2002. Senior Rylee Satrom had 13 kills to lead the Patriots. Danica Hanson and Kiaza Carlson both finished with double-digit assists, while Kylie Kroeplin and Raina Satrom both had 26 digs.

With the season in the rear-view mirror, it’s time for us to honor some of the top players in each class. We emailed all the coaches across the state to get nominations. We compiled that information and then had the challenging task of selecting the Midco Sports Player of the Year winners sponsored by North Dakota Farmers Union Insurance.

If you don’t see a player that’s worthy of being mentioned, please reach out and submit their name/school and stats. I’ll do my best to add them. Email jody.norstedt@midco.com. We apologize in advance because it’s inevitable that some worthy individuals will get missed for a variety of reasons. Stats are tough to track down if we don't hear back from coaches or they're not posted anywhere online. Also, we can’t guarantee that the stats below are 100% accurate because they were gathered at various times throughout the postseason. Thank you for taking the time to visit the blog and congrats to every player across North Dakota because you just completed a season that requires a lot of hard work, sacrifice and commitment!

 

Class A

Player of the Year

Makenna Nold, Jamestown senior: 666 kills, 37 assists, 10 digs/match, 85 aces 

Honorable Mentions and nominations

Tayla Andersen, Bismarck senior: 491 kills, 364 digs, 24.5 blocks, 77 aces

Evy Berg, North senior: 649 digs, 59 assists

Raina Chwialkowski, West Fargo sophomore: 738 digs, 59 aces

Reese Duchsherer, Legacy senior: 126 kills, 305 digs, 929 assists, 29 blocks, 64 aces

Eden Fridley, Century senior: 310 kills, 438 digs, 23 blocks, 45 aces

Hannah Kotrba, Shanley senior: 665 digs

Hannah Litzinger, Red River senior: 335 kills, 406 digs, 40 aces

Jenna Nelson, Dickinson sophomore: 325 kills, 259 digs, 35 blocks, 21 ace

Cayla Sailer, Davies senior: 304 kills, 427 digs, 26 aces

Betsy Schiltz, North senior: 972 assists

 

Class B

Player of the Year

Josie Jensen, Northern Cass: 468 kills, 202 digs, 106 blocks, 51 aces
 

Honorable Mentions and nominations

Cora Badding, Langdon-E-M: 589 kills, 343 digs, 55 blocks, 46 aces

Kelsie Belquist, New Rockford-Sheyenne: 496 kills, 413 digs, 41 aces

Delaney Deschamp, Trinity: 1,092 assists

Elizabeth Fedje, Drayton/Valley-Edinburg: 280 kills, 221 digs, 37 blocks, 23 assists, 32 aces

Savan Filibeck, Beulah: 13 kills, 543 digs, 62 aces

Danica Hanson, MayPort-C-G: 260 kills, 536 assists, 59 aces

Ava Jahner, Trinity: 320 kills, 355 digs, 65 blocks, 54 aces

Leah Lindquist, Our Redeemer’s: 432 kills, 72 blocks, 62 aces

Brenna Martin, Thompson: 466 kills, 96 digs, 64 blocks, 23 aces

Caroline Puetz, Wyndmere-Lidgerwood: Region 1 Senior Athlete of the Year

Tessa Rasmusson, LaMoure-L-M: 442 kills, 528 digs, 12 blocks, 55 aces

Rylee Satrom, MayPort-C-G: 280 kills, 56.5 blocks, 43 aces

Morgan Schweitzer, Bottineau: 4-year varsity libero; 1,347 career digs (school record)

Heidi Steffes, LaMoure-L-M: 241 kills, 48 blocks, 59 digs, 43 assists

Jalynn Swanson, Langdon-E-M: 979 assists, 124 kills, 339 digs, 22 blocks, 63 aces

Maya Vibeto, Our Redeemer’s: 438 kills, 589 digs, 44 aces

Tiahna Wald, Edgeley-K-M: 730 digs, 92% serving percentage

Dedra Wood, Shiloh Christian: 282 kills, 70 blocks, 46 aces