Coming off a three-game district tournament loss to Kenmare, the Our Redeemer's Christian School volleyball team needed a relatively mistake-free match to get its confidence back.
Mission accomplished.
The Knights routed Rugby 25-10, 25-13, 25-12 at the Minot Municipal Auditorium on Monday in the first round of the Class B Region 6 tournament.
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Daniel Allar/MDN
Our Redeemer’s eighth-grader Makayla Gartner tips a ball over the net during the Knights’ three-set win against Rugby on Monday at the Minot Municipal Auditorium. The win sends ORCS to the Class B Region 6 semifinals.
ORCS scored 12 of the match's first 13 points to bury District 11's No. 3 team from the outset. The Knights scored nine unanswered points later in the opening game, five of them on consecutive aces from junior setter Brooke Knutson.
"We came out much more assertive than we did with Kenmare," ORCS coach Sherry Carlson said. "It started right away with our serves. We started serving aggressively, didn't come in fearful to make a mistake."
The mistakes were few for the No. 2 seed from District 12. When the Panthers were able to return serve, the Knights answered quickly from a variety of positions.
Senior outside hitter Ashley Koppinger got her kills, 15 of them to lead the team. Senior Billie Bangen chipped in with nine kills and three aces. Eighth-grade setter Morgan Olson tallied a team-high 16 assists and contributed three aces to the squad's total.
"We were really flowing well," Olson said. "The passes were there and the sets were there. The kills were there. That worked well today."
The Knights followed a dominant first game by scoring set two's first eight points and taking an 11-1 lead. ORCS put together a 5-0 run later in the game powered by a pair of kills from senior middle hitter Emily VanLith and three Olson aces.
In the final set, the Knights scored the first five points and had separate 7-0 and 7-2 runs.
"Once we just get in that groove, we just get into that feeling and we just want to keep it going," Bangen said. "Our coach told us not to take anybody for granted and we just came in and wanted to play how we play."
ORCS plays Velva tomorrow in the region semifinals.
Velva tops Glenburn
Velva used a strong first set to hold off Glenburn in the first round of the Class B Region 6 tournament at the Minot Municipal Auditorium on Monday.
Still, Aggies coach Molly Terveen said there's lots to improve upon from their 25-17, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22 win.
"Our communication, we fell apart," Terveen said. "Our mental errors. We didn't pass the ball very well, we did a lot of things wrong. But they were able to fix them and come back and take some games from 'em."
Senior outside hitter Katelyn Sandy led the Aggies with eight kills and 22 digs. Kjerstie Fevold had 17 assists to pace Velva, who plays Our Redeemer's in a semifinal match today.