McKenzie County Farmer - Sports

By Olivia Sundeen
Farmer Staff Intern

Bump, set, spike is a motto 30 girls at Watford City High School are becoming very familiar with as they start preparing for this year’s volleyball season.
Head Coach Nancy Deutsch is excited with the number of girls that are out. “Thirty is a good number to spread out between three squads,” states Deutsch.
Last year the Wolves had one senior, Olivia Sundeen, who played the Libero position as a defensive specialist; therefore, there are a lot of returning players that have experience. With seven seniors, Deutsch is hoping there won’t be a lack of leadership.
The plan of attack for this season is to use the abundent experience to the Wolves’ advantage. “With the experience and quickness we are going to use a quick offense,” commented Deutsch. “The goal is to try to beat the blockers from the bigger teams since we aren’t that big ourselves.”
Because a lot of the girls put in hours of work over the course of the summer, Deutsch is pleased with the way the first few practices have gone.
 Instead of spending so much time working to get back into shape, the team is able to start working on plays and getting into game mode off the get-go.
Like past years, Stanley will be a big competitor for the Wolves. “Stanley is a big team and we’ll have to play smart and accurate as to where we will be putting the ball down when we go for a kill,” stated Deutsch.
Another very competitive team will be Divide County. They have many returning players that have a lot of experience, making them a good match for the Wolves.
This season the Wolves have a pretty tough schedule and don’t play too many weak teams.
The returning players with experience include Seniors: Dani Bates, Karson Pederson, Marti Quale, Ashli Foli, Jayme Johnson, Sierra Perdue, and Laura Lange; Juniors: Charlie Hystad, Brianna Allex, and Bessie Schmitz; and Sophomore: McKayla Haugeberg.
Due to the age and experience of these returning players Head Coach Deutsch and Assistant Coach Terrille Jacobson can’t help but prepare for the loss of the seven seniors. They hope that by bringing up some younger girls that they will be rebuilding and giving experience to a new Wolves volleyball team.
A new addition to this year’s season is C-Squad Coach Lisa Scott. Scott is working in the High School Office and has had some experience playing and coaching volleyball. She is a nice asset for Coach Deutsch and Jacobson to have.
This season is going to be an exciting one. Due to a lack of height, the girls will definitely have to use their quickness and defensive skills to keep them in the game.
“I”m trying to mix things up by putting girls in different positions than they might be used too,” stated Deutsch. “Hopefully, these new combinations work and benefit us as we work on new plays.”
It will be interesting to see how the season plays out for this hard working group of girls. Come show them support as they take on their first match of the season against the Killdeer Cowboys on Tuesday, Aug. 31. Go Wolves!