Mike Kraft/MDN Glenburn’s Ava Stevens tips a shot over the block of Our Redeemer’s Brooklynn Roedocker (11) and Grace Olson (6) during the District 6 Tournament championship match at the Minot Municipal Auditorium on Monday, Nov. 3.

The Glenburn volleyball team could have been satisfied with its first appearance in a district tournament championship.

The Panthers could have been satisfied with the No. 2 seed in next week’s regional tournament – their highest seed – in what would be their sixth showing at the event.

But they wanted more and they got more. The 2025 Glenburn Panthers continued to immortalize itself in school history with yet another program first, winning the District 6 Tournament with a straight-set victory over No. 1 seed Our Redeemer’s, 25-17, 25-18, 25-19, at the Minot Municipal Auditorium on Monday, Nov. 3, for its first title.

“This just gave the girls a whole nother burst of confidence and I couldn’t be more proud of these girls,” Glenburn coach Sierra Hansen said. “I just think the difference was the girls knew they were making it to regionals either way, but we just pushed a little bit more and wanted this a little bit more for ourselves.”

The Panthers will be the top seed at the Region 3 Tournament out of District 6 and will play No. 4 seed Ray from District 5 in the quarterfinal round at the Minot State University Dome on Monday, Nov. 10, in the third match of the day. The two teams met during the Northwest Conference Tournament in the opening round of the championship bracket, with Glenburn winning 25-18, 14-25, 15-9.

Glenburn’s path to its first district title included four-set victories over Surrey in the quarterfinal round and Velva in the semifinals in which the Panthers dropped the opening set in both before rallying to advance.

A weekend off didn’t slow the momentum, as the Panthers avenged an early season loss to the Knights in which they were swept for the only time all season in a regulation match. Glenburn returned the favor, as it was just the second time Our Redeemer’s had failed to win a set during a match, the first coming in its season opener back on Sept. 4.

“During the regular season, it was our first home game, so I think we were a little nervous and thinking a little too much,” Glenburn’s Ava Stevens said. “We had a lot of errors, but today we really came and showed out.”

The Panthers made sure not to fall behind early like they had in their previous two matches, instead claiming the opening set to establish momentum right away. It was more of the same in the second with Emma Jones and Stevens leading the offensive attack.

“They just came in with a very different mindset and props to them on their whole team effort and their consistency,” Our Redeemer’s coach Kara Nunziato said. “It wasn’t just one player that won that match. All of them stepped up in big moments and it kept us scrambling and out of system more than we wanted to be.”

Jones was a key staple for the Panthers during their historic run through the district tournament and was named the District 6 Senior Athlete of the Year. She made it difficult for the Knights on both offense and defense, putting down kills while also making opposing hitters have to work extra hard to hit around her block.

“You have to be in a position to swing around the block and they did a really good job of reading our offensive moves and unfortunately it took a lot of effort,” Nunziato said. “Every kill we earned took a lot of effort tonight.”

Our Redeemer’s looked poised to extend the match to a fourth set, jumping out to an 8-1 advantage in the third. Tessa Carlson had three aces during that stretch and Brookylnn Roedocker added two kills. Roedocker would record a pair of aces as well.

Kills by Noel Pankratz and Lauren Strom pushed the Knights’ lead out to 15-6 before the Panthers started methodically chipping away. Glenburn won 12 of the ensuing 15 points to draw even. Stevens, Jones and Aubrie Quick helped provide the offense during that run.

“We did not want to go into a fourth set,” Hansen said. “We wanted to end it right there and just head home.”

Kadyn Braun briefly gave the Knights back the lead at 19-18, but the Panthers closed the match on a 7-0 run for their first district title. Stevens recorded two of her match-high 13 kills to go along with a block, and Jones’ 10th kill of the match sealed the victory.

“It means a lot for us because we’ve never been to the district championship, so we’re just really excited to see how far we can go this year,” Stevens said.

Roedocker led the Knights with nine kills. The Knights finished with 10 aces, led by three from Braun and Carlson. Our Redeemer’s will play Divide County in a regional quarterfinal match.

Nunziato was named the District 6 Coach of the Year.