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Century heads to Class A championship match with win over Valley City

FARGO–Bismarck Century will defend its Class A volleyball crown. The Patriots used a 20-25, 25-14, 25-7, 25-19 win over Valley City in the state semifinals Friday at the Fargodome to set up a matchup with Jamestown for the state title.

The only other volleyball team to win three straight state titles is Fargo North, completing the three-peat in 1997. Patriots will go for their third straight Saturday at 7 p.m.

“Looking where we started with this group and looking where we are now, with nine new faces on the court, it’s incredible,” Century coach Jamie Zastoupil said. “Every year is a different journey, but this team is a different team. It’s a fun group and I’m really proud of them. It’s awesome.”

Century’s 6-foot-4 sophomore Lauren Ware was unstoppable. She had a match-high 20 kills, along with seven blocks, to lead the Patriots (33-8).

“I’m glad she’s on my team,” Zastoupil said. “She’s just a sophomore. She’s just a sponge for the sport. She fixes things really quickly. She’s probably the most competitive person I’ve ever met. She’s just getting better every time she touches the ball. It’s going to be fun to see where she ends up.”

Ware had a big fix for the Patriots on Friday, after Valley City (22-12) took the opening set, closing the set on a 5-1 run. She came back with nine kills in Set 2, as Century closed the set with a 12-2 run.

“We knew we were going to have to come back swinging because they were going to come back swinging too,” Ware said. “We just had to bring up our confidence and just keep swinging and bring up our game.

“I think we just didn’t we played our pace in the first set. They slowed down our pace of the game, and we just needed to get control back on our side. I think that’s what we did in the second set. We really brought control back to our side.”

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