Mike Kraft/MDN Our Redeemer’s junior middle hitter Lauren Strom goes up for a kill attempt as Bishop Ryan’s Ceci Johannsen (6) and Bentley Schneider (7) defend during a District 6 match at Bishop Ryan on Thursday, Sept. 18.

On the football field, Our Redeemer’s and Bishop Ryan join forces as a co-op with the goal of winning together.

In every other sport, the Knights and Lions are crosstown rivals, with the goal of winning at the expense of the other and securing bragging rights.

On Thursday, Sept. 18, that rivalry was on the volleyball court, and it was the Knights that came away with both the victory and the ability to boast, claiming a four-set victory at Bishop Ryan, 25-18, 25-12, 20-25, 25-20, in ORCS’ District 6 opener. Senior middle hitter Brooklynn Roedocker led the Knights with a match-high 19 kills, and junior middle hitter Lauren Strom and senior outside hitter Kadyn Braun added 11 and nine kills, respectively.

“I didn’t realize how big the rivalry was until the start of the game,” Bishop Ryan first-year head coach Sierra Bosch said. “It’s something I honestly really enjoyed because it got the fans really engaged and involved and it helped the girls fuel them to push and gave them the drive.”

The Knights (10-5 overall, 1-0 District 6) controlled the opening two sets and appeared to be well on their way to a sweep, especially after a dominating second set in which they scored the opening seven points and never led by fewer than six points the rest of the set. The lead grew as large as 13 and never shrunk under 10 after ORCS grabbed a 19-9 advantage.

Roedocker had six kills in the second set and Braun had three, while just four of Bishop Ryan’s 12 points in the set were earned via kill or ace.

“Our momentum and our energy really brought us through with our kills and Brooklynn Roedocker, she’s swinging the ball left and right and just our aggressive defense was really good,” Braun said.

Like any rivalry match, nothing comes easily, and the host Lions (8-7, 0-2) weren’t about to allow themselves to get swept on their home floor in front of their fans. Bishop Ryan led wire-to-wire in the third set to avoid the sweep and extend the match to a fourth set. Even when the Knights battled back from a pair of six-point deficits to square the set at 17, the Lions didn’t fold. Instead they responded by winning eight of the final 11 points.

“In the game of volleyball, when you’re up two sets that’s when you need to bring your biggest game to the floor is entering that third set,” ORCS coach Kara Nunziato said. “Being comfortable with the lead doesn’t do anybody any favors and I think we got a little too comfortable and Bishop Ryan had their backs against the wall. It was do-or-be-done and they played tremendous defense.”

Fueling the third-set spark was senior Tochi Udekwe, who finished with a team-high 12 kills, three aces and 19 digs. In the third set alone, Udekwe registered five kills and a pair of aces, while energizing the crowd and helping to get momentum back on their side.

“She played amazing,” Bosch said. “I couldn’t ask for more from her. She was all over the court and she really did fuel the girls and gave them the energy to continue to want to play despite being down two sets.”

The Lions also got offensive production from Bentley Schneider, Ceci Johannsen and Jaidyn Braunberger in the third set.

“It’s just an eye-opener that it’s not easy to do three sets as every team brings competition, so as long as we keep our heads up and play through each point, we’ll be good,” Braun said.

Our Redeemer’s regrouped and used a 6-1 run early in the fourth to seize control of the momentum once again. Roedocker had two aces and a kill and Strom and Hope Gravley registered kills during that burst. Bishop Ryan would trim the lead to a single point on a couple occasions, but couldn’t snatch the lead away from the Knights.

“There’s more than one way to win a volleyball match and in that fourth set we committed to finding momentum to our side even though from a fan’s section standpoint, we can’t control the environment, but we can control what’s in our square of the volleyball court,” Nunziato said. “The girls did a nice job of managing their RPMs and making offensive plays.”

The Knights closed the match on a 9-1 run, finished off by Strom’s 11th kill of the match.

Despite the loss, Bosch was pleased with her team’s performance.

“I am proud of the girls,” Bosch said. “They played their hearts out until the very end. It was great to see. We’ve had trouble with the consistency and that’s something we’re going to continue to work on, but I’m proud of the way they played tonight. They gave it their all and played to the end. I couldn’t ask for more.”

Grace Olson orchestrated ORCS’ offense with 45 assists and also provided two aces and nine digs. The Knights had 11 aces in total, led by four from Ellie Streyle, who also contributed 18 digs to the defensive effort.

The Knights travel to Glenburn on Monday, Sept. 22, while the Lions go to Drake-Anamoose on Tuesday, Sept. 23.