The Knights and Royals delivered yet another classic match in their young, but entertaining rivalry. What looked like a decisive victory for South Prairie-Max, the second-ranked team in Class A, turned into a thrilling comeback for the home team, as the Class B Knights completed a reverse sweep to earn a five-set victory, 21-25, 18-25, 25-20, 25-22, 15-9, on Tuesday, Sept. 9.

“These are the games you hope to play in,” ORCS coach Kara Nunziato said. “Competitive, close, fans are getting into it. It was just a great atmosphere tonight.”

After dropping the first two sets, the Knights forced a fifth-set tiebreaker, needing one final comeback in the process. ORCS found itself trailing early in the decisive set, surrendering four of the first five points. But the Knights responded with a 5-1 run fueled by a trio of kills from senior middle hitter Brooklynn Roedocker and two more from senior outside hitter Noel Pankratz.

“We definitely lost our vibe and our cool, but after the first two sets we just had to be calm, stay at an even level of energy, not go up and down and that helped us play as a team and just be focused,” Pankratz said.

Mike Kraft/MDN Our Redeemer’s senior middle hitter Brooklynn Roedocker goes up for a kill attempt as South Prairie-Max senior middle blocker Hattie Heer defends at the net during a match at ORCS on Tuesday, Sept. 9.

The Royals (6-1) would pull even at 8-8 only to see the Knights rip off four straight points and seven of the final eight to hand South Prairie-Max its first loss of the young season in front of a raucous crowd well-represented for both fan bases. Pankratz had two more kills down the stretch and finished with 17 for the match. Senior outside hitter Kadyn Braun set up match point and junior middle hitter Lauren Strom punctuated the victory with her fourth kill.

“Our goal was to have fun yet to learn,” ORCS senior setter Grace Olson said. “If we stayed consistent we knew that if we fixed minor details that we would be able to come out on top. We know our potential and if we can continue to play like this throughout the season, we’ll do well.”

A victory for the Knights looked highly unlikely early, as the Royals made life difficult for the home team with their size in front of the net. The Royals had eight blocks over the first two sets, allowing them to pull away at the midway point of each game. The two teams were tied 10-10 in the opening set before South Prairie-Max went on a 6-0 run to grab the momentum. Keira Francis had six of team-high 15 kills in the opening set and three more in the second.

An 10-1 run in the second helped the Royals take a commanding 2-0 set lead in the match. Skotti Beck and Kinley Schilla paced the offensive attack in the second, combining for seven kills. Beck joined Francis in double figures with 13 kills.

When ORCS found a way past South Prairie-Max’s block, it was able to climb back into the game. The Knights led throughout the majority of the third set and were able to avoid a second consecutive sweep at home to start the season. The Royals had just four blocks over the final three sets.

“It was committing to swing and trusting that we could see what was open,” Nunziatio said. “When we started to play safe, we ended up running into the block a little bit more. We knew that if the block would inevitably happen, our defense was ready to pick it up in coverage.”

Helping to navigate ORCS’ offensive attack was Olson, who finished with 45 assists.

“She was all over this floor, calling the shots offensively,” Nunziato said. “Our hitters were committed to work hard for her, put themselves in position to swing. If you watch Grace, she plays a mean front row for a setter and then in the back row she was defensively strong tonight. Our defense is always the unsung hero. Against a team like South Prairie, they have a lot of big hitters on their side and our defense had to play our game in order to keep us in the fight.”

Ellie Streyle and Pankratz has 26 and 24 digs, respectively, to lead the Knights defensively.

The Knights trailed throughout most of the fourth set and appeared to be on the ropes, trailing 14-7. But they found life with a 10-3 run to eventually even the set. They would go back and forth, but tied at 20, the Knights won five of the final seven points to force a fifth-set tiebreaker. Roedocker recorded three of her match-high 22 kills over the final five points for the Knights.