Alex Eisen/MDN Rugby junior Isabella McCabe (14) smiles after a point scored against Des Lacs-Burlington in a Region 6 Tournament semifinal contest at the Minot Municipal Auditorium. Rugby won in five sets.

After 177 points had been scored, the first to score 15 more was going to claim the first spot in the volleyball Region 6 Tournament championship match. This all-out war between Rugby and Des Lacs-Burlington had one more battle to be fought.

Both squads huddled up to prepare for a decisive fifth set Tuesday evening at the Minot Municipal Auditorium.

“(I told them) to do the little things right,” Rugby head coach Jessica Fritz said. “A lot of errors were from our passes and communication. Those are the things we harp on and keep practicing. You have to do those little things right.”

On the other side of the court, DLB head coach Tarra Hysjulien rallied her troops.

“We talked about how we are going to play to win, not to play not to lose,” Hysjulien said. “That’s easier said than done. When you get into that fifth set, every little thing seems to be amplified.”

The magnitude of the moment grew with every point. A couple of slip-ups from DLB (27-11) and Rugby (31-4) was closing in on match point.

After feeding junior middle hitter Brooke Blessum over and over again, the Panthers went to another Brooke — sophomore outside hitter Brooke Anderson — for the final blow.

As the ball bounced off the floor, the Panthers jumped into the air. The marathon match was over, with Rugby winning in five sets by scores of 23-25, 25-21, 25-16, 17-25, 15-8.

“We knew it was going to be close and a tight match,” Fritz said. “We have done a lot of mental strength training. The girls used that and fought hard.”

Any notion that this regional semifinal match was going to be a runaway for one side was debunked in the opening set. The Lakers came from behind to take the first set by the minimum, 25-23.

Adjustments were made, and the Panthers turned a 20-18 deficit in the second set into a 25-21 victory. Brooke Blessum provided the firepower in the front row and back row; it didn’t matter.

Rugby junior Isabella McCabe also came up with a timely block.

“We have worked so hard for this all season,” Rugby junior setter Sarah Blessum said. “We had to adjust to a lot of their tipping, so we moved up, and that worked really well.”

In a match where momentum was hard to come by, Rugby cruised to a 25-16 win in the third set for a 2-1 lead. The fourth frame wouldn’t be nearly as easy.

Both teams traded side-outs for the longest time with DLB clinging to a one- or two-point advantage. A spinning, acrobatic kill by sophomore Emily DeGree and an ace from junior setter Addyson Hughes had finally opened up a 22-16 cushion for the Lakers.

DeGree put up the set-winning block at 25-17.

DLB had a trio of players reach double-digits in kills: Kayli Olson (15), Krysta Berard (14) and Zoey Reed (10).

“We took the fourth set, so you would have thought we would have the momentum going into the fifth,” Hysjulien said. “Momentum was tough to come by. There were little points of runs but, being so evenly matched with someone, it’s tough to take the momentum completely.”

Nerves were apparent at the start of the fifth set, with the first three points scored on attack errors. The frame was last tied at 2-2, as Rugby slowly inched away.

Brooke Blessum provided four of her match-high 31 kills in the fifth set. Anderson and McCabe each added five kills in the match. Sarah Blessum finished with a match-high 47 assists.

“This is absolutely amazing,” Sarah Blessum said. “Last year, we didn’t make it. But now finally did.”

Rugby faltered in the Region 6 semifinals last season to Our Redeemer’s. The highly-anticipated postseason rematch between the two teams will come at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Region 6 championship game at the Minot Municipal Auditorium.

The Panthers are seeking the program’s first state tournament berth in school history.

DLB will face Glenburn in a regional third-place match at 6 p.m. Thursday in Minot.

Alex Eisen covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.