North Country Mavericks Open Conference Play

The newly-established North Country Lady Mavericks traveled to Poplar Sept. 3 to test their mettle against the Lady Indians. It was an exciting match but the end result wasn't what us NC'ers wanted to see. Although the girls played very well they came out on the short end but made the Lady Indians work for their 3-2 victory.

Poplar had three players who could serve bullets that didn't clear the net by much more than a couple feet and that, coupled by a low ceiling and ventilation ducts were the proverbial straw for the Lady Mavs.

In volleyball there is a before-game ceremony that all teams participate in and one that I still don't understand. It goes like this: each team circles the court and passes each other under the net slapping hands and saying "gluck, gluck, gluck." What's up with that, Dawg?

Poplar won the first game 25-17 in spite of NC's Peyton Chopper's serving skills, Delaney Beil setting for Mickayla Johnson for a couple KWAs each game and Bailey Funk getting into the action with some very nice hustle-saves. Tatum Moore rifled two or four shots from the back row for pernts and Jada Sudbrack had a couple aces each game as well as some great blocked shots. Casity Boucher is playing well in the back row digging up some of those tough serves.

Along with a plethora of "how'd she do that's" on the plus side and a few "FTCs" (Failure to Communicate) on the negative side I thought the Lady Mavericks played a good match, winning game two (25-16) and game three (25-23).

On Saturday the Lady Mav's played their first conference game of the new season at home (Saco) against probably their toughest conference opponent, the Scobey Lady Spartans.

The first game saw a BWA (Block With Attitude) by Sudbrack that had the crowd on their feet, and Funk, all 5'5" of her, had a sweet block as well. Yikes, these kids can jump.

The Mavs stayed within striking distance in all three games but just couldn't put the W in the W column as the Lady Spartans win the first game 25-19.

The home team made a run late in the second game when Beil served a perfect set to Funk who collected her first KWA (Kill With Attitude) of the young season. Following that were a couple textbook pass, set, kills for the Lady Mavericks who then surged into the lead, 22-21.

A couple SE's (Service Errors) were the undoneing of the Mav's as Scobey went on to win the game 25-23

Scobey's #14, Mayson Hudyma and #2 Chye Handran did most of the damage to the Lady Mavericks in game three and Scobey capped the night off with a 25 to 22 win.

Moore scored on a couple kills and an ace or two along with some great passes and saves from the back row. Johnson scored some kills and blocks (one BWA).

The Lady Mavericks will continue to improve with every game and match and I think they will peak at tournament time. They're a tough bunch of kids and are starting to sense how their teammates play and where they'll be at any given moment of each game. Their on court chatter is much improved over last year and the camaraderie is fun to watch.... There is life on the court in Maverick-ville!

As is her bent, Maverick head coach Kathy Siroky likes to get all her players in the match just for a little experience so we also got to see Casity Boucher, Sarah Boucher, Alysa Conway, Chaykota Christensen and Kayleigh Cummings who all played in the JV matches preceding the varsity match.

Check your local listings for this weekend's matches and remember this: the facts, although interesting, aren't always relevant.

Be there or be square.