Submitted photo Sarah Blessum (left) congratulates her sister and teammate, Maria Blessum, for reaching 1,000 career kills.

Rugby High girls’ varsity volleyball team kept their winning streak alive away from home as they served up 3-0 defeats to Surrey Tuesday and Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood last Thursday.

In their meet at Mohall High School October 11, Rugby won each of their three games by wide margins, with a 25-13 victory in the first game, 25-11 score in the second, and 25-8 in the third. Rugby’s Maria Blessum reached an astonishing 1,000 career kills that evening.

Maria told the Tribune she wished she’d accomplished the career kill goal at home in the RHS gym.

“Obviously, I wish it would have been here, in front of all the Rugby fans, but it was still awesome,” Maria said. It’s something I’ve been striving for since freshman year, and I have to give a lot, if not all credit to my teammates, because without them, it would not have been possible especially Sarah. She’s my sister and setter,” she smiled.

Coach Jessica Fritz noted, “I’ve researched back to the beginning when they kept records at Rugby High, and she’s the first Rugby player with 1,000 kills.”

Maria said she plans to attend NDSU after graduation, and “maybe be part of the track team there. Ideally, though, I’d play volleyball.”

Brianna Leier and Brooke Blessum each scored 3 aces in the Mohall game, while Sarah Blessum came in with 19 assists. Brooke Blessum and Anni Stier each had 1 block. Maria Blessum led in the digs column with 3, while Stier and Holly Vetsch scored 2 each. Maria Blessum logged 12 kills, and Brooke Blessum had 8.

The Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood stats were: Aces Grace Solemsaas and Skylar McClain with 1 each; assists Solemsaas with 14; digs Janie Savelkoul, Autumn Smith and Solemsaas with 7 each; kills Jorie Holsten, 4; Savelkoul, Solemsaas, and Leah Feland with 3 each.

The Lady Panthers’ match at Surrey High started with a relatively easy 25-3 win in the first game but the second game saw the Lady Mustangs battle back to a narrower 25-13 margin. Rugby’s win in game 3 came by only 4 points, with a 25-21 score.

Sarah Blessum logged 22 assists for Rugby, while Maria Blessum added to her career total with 10 kills. Brooke Blessum scored 7 kills, while Anni Stier and Kelly Swanson each scored 4. Aces went to Maria Blessum with 4, while Brianna Leier and Brooke Blessum each had 1. Blocks went to Brooke Blessum with 2, Karsyn Hager, 1 and Stier with 1.

Surrey assists went to Hannah Severson with 10, and Salym Klimpl with 2. Kills for the Lady Mustangs went to Katie Aberle with 7, Syndey Stambaugh with 3, and Tenlee Newport with 2. Stambaugh scored 2 aces, while Olivia Wattendorf scored 1. Wattedorf logged 8 digs, and Stambaugh logged 5. Aberle logged 1 block for the evening.

Wildcats square off against Lady Comets

Benson County’s Wildcat girls’ varsity volleyball squad faced off against Rolette/Wolford’s Lady Comets at Leeds High School Tuesday night.

Rolette/Wolford’s squad began the set with a 25-14 victory over Benson County in the first game, while Benson County rebounded to win the second game with 25 points to Rolette/Wolford’s 12 points. The Lady Comets came back again with a win in the third game, but Benson County finished the set with wins in the 4th and 5th games.

Kills for the Lady Wildcats went to Reganne Ritterman with 10, Desidy Schwanke with 9, while Kearyn Nelsen and Mallory Sabo each had 8. Camee Wangler scored 35 assists. Schwanke, and Ritterman each scored 4 service aces, while Wangler and Macy Engstrom logged 3 each. Maddy Severson logged 19 digs; Wangler, 18, and Schwanke, 11. Wangler also earned 1 block for the evening.

Emma Arstein earned 11 kills for the Lady Comets, while Maria Leonard scored 10. Baylee Mora racked up 23 assists for the match, and Brenna Boucher scored 5 service aces. Digs went to Keira Grant with 53, and Leonard with 28. Leonard also scored 3 blocks for the evening.