Oak Grove aiming for great showing at North Dakota Class B volleyball state tournament

FARGO (KVRR) – The North Dakota Class B volleyball state tournament is set to start on Thursday at the FargoDome. The fourth seed is the Oak Grove Grovers who are looking to keep up the momentum of their season after winning the Region 1 championship.

“It shows that anything is possible. And honestly, our team is all based on fight. If we fight hard, any team at our school, if we just fight there’s always a possibility of going state. And I think everyone needs to believe that. A lot of teams counted us out this year. It’s great to show everyone what we can do.” said Aspyn Kjos, a junior libero.

This roster is ready for the bright lights in Fargo. Playing for each other.

“I’ve been a part of teams that haven’t been so fun to be with, but this team has really , it’s like a family to us and we just love each other so much. And our bond is so tight and I wouldn’t be able to play with anybody else.” said Paightyn Downs, a senior outside hitter.

In the Region 1 tournament, the Grovers were dominant. They swept Richland in the quarterfinals. Took down Maple River in the semifinals and then swept Central Cass to take home the crown. They have a good mix of veterans and younger players, aiming for the program’s first ever state championship game appearance.

“Every year you work on building the program, getting better every single year. We’re really focusing on limiting our errors. I think this season, a lot of teams in the region were pretty much at the same caliber and it really came down to, okay, who’s going to make less errors? Who’s going to come out there and play hard? And we fought many, many tough battles this season and so proud of the girls and everything they did and working so hard to get to the end.” said Oak Grove Head Coach Mikaela Hestdalen.

The Grovers kick-off their tournament run on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. at the FargoDome against the Thompson Tommies.

NORTH DAKOTA CLASS B VOLLEYBALL STATE TOURNAMENT:

2) South Prairie-Max vs. Kenmare/Bowbells at 1:00 p.m. Thursday

3) Medina-Pingree/Buchanan vs. Central McLean at 3:00 p.m. Thursday

1) Langdon Area-Munich vs. Dickinson Trinity at 5:00 p.m. Thursday

4) Oak Grove vs. 5) Thompson at 7:00 p.m. Thursday