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BOTTINEAU - A funny thing happened on Newburg-Westhope's way to a sweep. A scrappy Sawyer team started making plays.

After the Eagles breezed to a 2-0 lead, things tightened up with Sawyer taking a 26-24 win in game 3 and the momentum that came with it.

But N-W fended off the Flashes with a 25-23 win in game 4 to take a 3-1 win and solidify a top-seed sweep during the first round of the District 11 tournament Thursday at Bottineau High School.

"I told the girls in the locker room, there wasn't a whole lot of great things in the match, but we got some momentum late to go into (today)," N-W head coach Jordan Cooper said. "They pulled it together as a group and the seniors pulled us through."

It didn't look like the Eagles, the No. 4 seed, would need a fourth game as they sprinted to a 2-0 lead with wins of 25-16 and 25-15.

But Sawyer came alive late in game 3. N-W got to 23-20 with a kill by Hailee Sivertson. But the Flashes scored six of the next seven points, behind a push kill by Katie Faul to make it 24-24 and an ace by Amanda Sondag. Sawyer won game 3 26-24.

"A lot of the teams we beat this year that we maybe shouldn't have, we were the scrappy team, we got to the ball on he court," Cooper said. "Tonight, they were the scrappy team. They wanted it a little more in game 3."

But the Eagles were able regroup in game 4. Sawyer took a 19-18 lead late in the game on a N-W error, but Addie Thompson finished strong with a kill and an ace for a 22-21 Eagles lead. Sarah Gessner put the Eagles in control with a kill for a 23-21 lead and a Sawyer time out.

"We didn't stay focused against a lower ranked team," Cooper said. "But we got it together. We got to play four games and Bottineau (N-W's oppenent in the semifinals) played just three so I guess we got some extra practice."

Faul led the Flashes with 6 kills and added three aces, while Sarah Knutson added five kills. Kayla Hanson finished with 14 assists and 10 digs.

Kendra Thom finished with five kills, while Gessner added four for the Eagles. Jasmine Hall had 16 aces. Thompson led the team with four aces and 10 digs.

The Eagles take on top ranked Bottineau today at 6 p.m. in the first semifinal.

Bottineau 3, Dunseith 0

Top seed Bottineau flexed its muscles in a quick 3-0 win over No. 8 Dunseith in a first round match Thursday.

The Stars only allowed 16 total points as they won 25-3, 25-7, 25-6.

Whitney Page had a match-high 10 kills to lead the Stars. Shyla Wettlaufer added four kills. Ashleigh Aufforth led the team with nine aces and eight assists, while Krystal Erickson finished with six aces and three kills for Bottineau.

Velva 3, TGU 0

Velva head coach Diana Thingstad said her team has had trouble closing out teams throughout the season. So, when the No. 2 seeded Aggies fell behind TGU 8-2 in game 3, she was a little fired up during a time out.

"It was probably as harsh as I get," she said when asked about her time out speech. "I told them it was awful and terrible and let's get it done."

The Aggies responded. Velva closed out the game on a 22-6 run and ended the match with a 3-0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-14) win.

"You never know what can happen at districts," Thingstad said. "The third has been our nemesis this year. It is something we are working on. We got it together."

The Aggies cruised for the most part in the match as seniors Brittney Thingstad and Bailey Thomas pounded out a combined 21 kills with Thingstad earning a match-high 15 and adding four aces.

"I think we hit the ball well. We moved it around," Diana Thingstad said. "We didn't move exceptionally well because it wasn't a fast paced match and we want it to be a fast paced match. We are happy to get win."

TGU fought back late in game 2 and started fast in game 3 as Taylor Stone fired one of her three aces during the 8-3 run to start the third. But Velva kept hitting and kept putting pressure on the Titans mainly behind a solid serve. Along with Brittney Thingstad, Jaci Norbury finished with three aces and Taylor Brudevold added two.

Emma Ronglien finished with six kills, seven blocks and two assists to pace TGU. Cassie Rockvoy added 12 assists and an ace in the loss.

Ali Podoll had a match-high 17 assists, while Norbury added nine assists for the Aggies. Velva takes on Rugby in tonight's second semifinal.

Rugby 3, Anamoose-Drake 0

Six different Rugby players had at least two kills as a balanced Panthers team advanced to the semifinals with a 3-0 win over Anamoose-Drake here Thursday.

Kristin Migler led the way with seven kills, while Jessica Jaeger and Kaitlin Blessum finished with four apiece.

Kaya Engen had eight kills, five assists, a block and an ace for the Raiders. Rachael Rott added five kills for A-D.

The Panthers didn't allow much to A-D as they had leads early in each game. Game 1 was the closest as Kristin Migler's kill made it a 20-18 lead for Rugby after two straight aces by A-D's Autum Meyer got the Raiders to within one at 17-16. An ace by Blessum on game point finished off any rally attempt and gave the Panthers momentum they never relinquished.

Anne Schmaltz led the Rugby offense with 16 assists and added two aces. Marina Laughridge paced the Panthers defense with 24 digs.