Bearcats sweep Storm, Chargers for homecoming

By Coach Tina Turn
KCC vs. SAC
Kittson Central played host on Tuesday, Oct. 1 for the second meeting between the Bearcats and the Storm of Stephen-Agyle Central. This Northern Lights Conference match was the homecoming game for KCC.
Junior middle hitter Kaydence White opened the set on fire. She connected with senior setter Morgan Turn right away and led the offense in the set with 6 kills. Senior outside hitter Berlyn Strege tallied 3 kills in the 25-9 win. Junior Hanna Warnke proved to be tough at the serving line for the Storm as she rattled off 10 serves, 4 of which were aces. White and senior right side hitter Lauryn Whitlock combined for 1 block in the opening set.
Set two was all Bearcats. Turn opened the set with a string of 5 serves, tallying 2 aces in the run. Overall Bearcat serving was solid in this middle set and the girls played cat-and-mouse with the SAC serve receive. Strege and Warnke each had serving runs, and reserve sophomore Brynn Hennen saw some court action and pounded over 4 serves for her team, who easily won the second set 25-8.
The Bearcats opened set three promptly earning 3 quick points to just as quickly have them all taken away. The lineup was submitted incorrectly, thus the loss of points and a sideout. It didn’t end up mattering much as Whitlock soon stepped to the serving line and had her way with the Storm, hammering over 10 serves to keep SAC out of system. Meanwhile in the front row, White did some hammering herself, ending the night with 7 kills in the first set out of her total of 20 kills. And in a surprising finish, defensive specialist Grace Faken passed a ball over the net that landed without contact for a “killer bump” and an ending score 25-15.
Turn started the night needing 17 assists to earn her 2,000th career assist. She hit that mark near the end of the final set off a White kill. Turn is the third setter in program history to record over 2,000 assists. She joins her sister, Lexi Turn who had 3,994 career assists in 2017, and former Wolfpack setter, Molly (Gustafson) Sobolik, who had 2,129 career assists in 2005.
With this Conference win, the Bearcats move their season record to 15 wins and 5 losses.

To view individual stats click this link: Game stats vs Storm

KCC vs. G/G
To close out homecoming week 2024, the Bearcat volleyball team motored to Grygla to take on the Grygla/Goodridge Chargers on Thursday, Oct. 3. It was the first meeting between the Bearcats and Chargers this year. KCC upheld their four-match winning streak and swept GG 3-0.
The Bearcats had a pretty slow start in set one. Sluggish play, low-key effort and lack of focus contributed to some pretty ugly volleyball for the first few points. Senior Lauryn Whitlock stepped to the serving line and hit 5 serves to give her team a little boost. It proved to be the only Bearcat run of the set, but thanks to Charger hitting and serving errors, KCC kept a lead. The team recorded 9 kills in the set, led by Kaydence White with 4. The set ended in a 25-16 Bearcat win.
KCC picked up their net play in set two as Morgan Turn and White combined for a block and White and Whitlock also notched a block in the stats book. The bigger presence at the net pushed the Chargers to try to go around the block. On occasion, they succeeded and hit a line, but ultimately the Bearcats held them off for an all-too-close 25-21 win. Leading in the kill column this go-round was Berlyn Strege with 6 big ones.
In what turned out to be the final set, the Bearcats opened with a 5-1 run, led by Hanna Warnke at the serving line. Several rallies kept KCC on their toes, and solid defense kept the pressure on. Senior Lily Peterson nabbed 3 digs in the third set, leading all Bearcats in that column. KCC missed 4 serves, but zeroed out that stat with 4 aces. KCC took another 25-16 win in set three.
We love a good 3-0 Northern Lights Conference win, but this definitely wasn’t the team’s most stellar performance of the year. Overall serving for the night was 89% with 9 aces. In our remaining contests, the Bearcats will need to tighten the belt a little and stay disciplined. KCC stands with a 16-5 record as they head into a tough tournament at Perham on Saturday.

To view individual stats click this link: Game stats vs Chargers

MORGAN TURN achieved 2,000 assists during the KCC Bearcats’ match against Stephen-Argyle Tuesday, Oct. 1. Turn joins a small group of students with over 2,000 assists including her sister, Lexi, left, with 3,994 assists in 2017 and Molly (Gustafson) Sobolik, right, with 2,129 assists in 2005. Congratulations! (Submitted Photo)

LIBERO LILY PETERSON passes the ball during the Bearcats’ match with Stephen-Argyle. The Bearcats won their match in 3 sets and improved their record to 15 wins and 5 losses. (Enterprise photo by Miranda Peterson)

MORGAN TURN goes up for a kill during the Bearcats’ 3-set match win over Stephen-Argyle on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Besides achieving her 2,000th assist, Turn had 4 kills, 4 digs, served 8/10 with 3 aces on the night.
(Enterprise Photo by Miranda Peterson)