Mike Kraft/MDN The Our Redeemer’s volleyball team is making its 12th appearance at the Class B state tournament this weekend. The Knights are the No. 6 seed and play No. 3 seed Linton-HMB in the quarterfinal round on Thursday, Nov. 20, at 11 a.m. at the Bismarck Event Center.

The state tournament resumes between the Our Redeemer’s Christian School and Surrey volleyball programs could not look any different.

On one side is a team in the Knights that have made a living at the state tournament over the past 10-15 years with varying degrees of success. They’ve played in state title matches, seven-place matches and everything in between. Their state tournament begins at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20, with a quarterfinal match against Linton-HMB.

On the other side is the Mustangs, who will make their state tournament debut when they step out onto the court at the Bismarck Event Center’s Main Arena to play Medina-Pingree-Buchanan in the quarterfinal round of the Class B state tournament at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20.

“It’s everything, something we’ve been waiting for all season and have had our sights on state all year,” Surrey coach Michaela Martin said. “Since punching our ticket, the school and the community as a whole has come together so much to support the girls and really help them get into the height of getting ready for state.”

While their histories in the state tournament are vastly different, one thing is true for both Our Redeemer’s and Surrey this year: they both have a difficult road to a state title, which would involve going through one another in the semifinals. The Mustangs are the No. 7 seed and match up with the fifth-ranked team in the state and an M-P-B team coming off a third-place finish at state in 2024. The Knights are the No. 6 seed and are tasked with knocking off the No. 1 ranked team in the media polls who have lost just four matches this season. Linton-HMB is back in the state tournament after a two-year hiatus.

The tournament seedings indicate that most of the coaches believe that the eastern part of the state is where the favorites reside. Teams from Regions 1 and 2 represent seeds 1-4, while Regions 3 and 4 represent the bottom four seeds.

The Knights (30-11) are no stranger to the state tournament, making their 12th appearance, where they sport a 15-18 record. Our Redeemer’s has won seven quarterfinal matches and two semifinal matches. Their best finish at state came in 2004 and 2016, where the Knights finished runner-up. They have also placed third twice, fourth on three separate occasions and had finishes of fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth one time a piece.

They are also no stranger to their quarterfinal opponent, who they saw twice in tournaments over the course of the season. The Knights dropped both sets during pool play at the Volley in the Valley Tournament and split a pair of sets during pool play at the Des Lacs-Burlington Laker Invitational.

“They are a very assertive serving team,” Our Redeemer’s coach Kara Nunziato said. “They don’t make many errors and they are very defensively sound, which lends itself to a lot of long rallies. When you play a team that is both consistent in both the back and the front row, they make you work for every point that you earn.”

Nunziato believes the Knights are playing their best volleyball entering the state tournament after winning the Region 3 Tournament. The Knights have won eight of their last nine matches, their best such stretch this season. The improvements since a straight-set defeat at home to Kenmare-Bowbells to begin the season is noticeable according to Nunziato.

“There’s just been a lot of confidence in them as individuals, but also just really understanding how to best play with the person next to them,” Nunziato said. “Their team chemistry has grown leaps and bounds because they have wanted to put themselves in a state run experience.”

Our Redeemer’s missed out on the state tournament last year, but still have plenty of players on the roster with experience playing on the biggest stage. Ellie Streyle, Grace Olson, Kadyn Braun, Noel Pankratz and Brooklynn Roedocker all were on the roster when the Knights were at state in 2023.

Many of those same names were the team’s statistical leaders. Roedocker led the Knights with 388 kills, while also contributing 59 aces and 39 blocks. Grace Olson piloted the offense with 954 assists, adding 39 aces and contributing defensively with 286 digs. Braun led the service game with 79 aces. Streyle was the top defender with 506 digs and also served up 51 aces. Lauren Strom will be playing in her first state tournament and has been the team’s top blocker, stuffing 87 shots at the net.

As the No. 6 seed, the Knights are viewed as an underdog, but regardless of the outcome over the weekend, Nunziato hopes her team sees the accomplishments they’ve made over the course of the season.

“We have to think back to that this is a real bonus week for us and they’ve put in a tremendous amount of time to put themselves in this position to be at a state tournament and now we just need to enjoy the ride and be prepared to play in some very competitive games of volleyball, which has been the goal all season,” Nunziato said.

Surrey is also looked at as an underdog with the No. 7 seed, but receiving a low seeding in the past hasn’t prevented them from getting to its ultimate destination. The Mustangs were the No. 10 seed in the District 6 Tournament after forfeiting all of their regular season contests after reporting an ineligible transfer player. They responded by winning their play-in match and winning a region qualifier. In the Region 3 Tournament, they were the No. 4 seed and knocked off the top seed from District 5 in Kenmare-Bowbells in the opening round. Surrey won the third-place match to earn them a spot in a state-qualifying match against Region 4 New England and now the Mustangs are in the state tournament for the first time in program history.

“At this point we’re expecting low seeding,” Martin said. “In districts we were seeded 10, regionals we were seeded four and state we are seeded seven. At this point we’re expecting the lower seed and we don’t take that personally because all that is is telling us who we’re going to play first. It doesn’t define what the outcome of the game is going to be.”

The Mustangs (6-29*) didn’t play M-P-B during the year and didn’t match up against any of the state representatives from the East. Central McLean was the only team in the field that the Mustangs played against, which was their season-opener on Sept. 2.

Along with being seeded low at tournaments, the Mustangs are also accustomed to being the earliest match in opening rounds. They were the first match of the day in the District 6 Tournament against Glenburn and they were the opening match of the Region 3 Tournament against Kenmare-Bowbells.

Surrey is also used to difficult paths, much like the one it faces at the state tournament. The Mustangs wouldn’t want it any other way.

“At this point, we’re not looking for easy,” Martin said. “We’re looking for those tough matches, especially getting matched up against Kenmare on Day 1 of regionals. That’s probably the toughest path we’ve had to face so far. The girls know they are capable as long as they come out ready to fight.”

Mekenzie Neighbors has been all over the stat sheet this season for the Mustangs. She leads the team with 343 kills and 372 digs and is third in both aces (44) and blocks (25). In Surrey’s state-qualifying match, Neighbors eclipsed 1,000 career digs.

Khloe Spaulding is second in kills (239), aces (46) and blocks (49). Avery Cree and Katie Mogard split setting duties. Cree has 433 assists and Mogard has 352. Camryn Guy has a team-high 72 aces and is second in digs with 353. Ava Keller is the lead blocker with 81.

“The mindset I’m trying to put into the girls and have them understand is that they’ve made it to this point and there’s nothing stopping them,” Martin said. “It’s important to have fun, especially for the seniors. It’s their last week of high school volleyball. As long as they don’t stress about it, they’ll be able to handle it well.”

The only two matches of the day have No. 1 seed and defending champion Langdon Area/Munich playing Central McLean at 3 p.m. and No. 4 seed Edgeley/Kulm/Montpelier squaring off with No. 5 seed Flasher.