Submitted Photo Our Redeemer’s senior outside hitter Kadyn Braun serves the ball to their Class B state semifinal opponent, Medina-Pingree/Buchanan, Friday, Nov. 21. Photo courtesy of the WDA.

The Our Redeemer’s Christian School volleyball team had one upset victory in its state tournament run.

Unfortunately for the Knights, they needed a second in their tool belt that they didn’t have.

Seeking a third trip to the state title match in program history, it was instead Medina-Pingree-Buchanan that punched its ticket, sweeping Our Redeemer’s, 25-23, 25-22, 25-19, in the semifinal round of the Class B state tournament on Friday, Nov. 21, at the Bismarck Event Center. The Thunder advanced to their first title match, where they will face Langdon Area-Munich – a 5-time champion – on Saturday, Nov. 22, at 3 p.m.

“I know the scores in the first two sets were close, but the rallies were just battles,” Our Redeemer’s coach Kara Nunziato said. “M-P-B’s outside hitters were just hitting at an incredible level and tested our block and ultimately found the open areas on the court.”

The Knights couldn’t slow down the attack of Destiny Opp, Brynn Sorenson and Shayla Martin, who combined for 40 of M-P-B’s 49 kills. Opp led the way with 17 kills, with Sorenson recording 15. All but one of Sorenson’s kills came over the final two sets.

Much like in Thursday’s quarterfinal match, the Knights (31-12) got off to a strong start, winning five of the opening six points of the match. The Knights received a pair of aces from Ellie Streyle and two kills from Brooklynn Roedocker.

Before M-P-B’s could get going, it was its setter providing the offense with some deception near the net. Violet Bohl had the dump shot working, keeping the Our Redeemer’s defense guessing. Bohl had four of her five kills in the first set. Her second kill helped spark a 6-2 run to grab a 12-11 lead. Opp had three kills during the mini run.

“When a team scores a lot of points on a setter dump, it’s just a momentum killer and we had to talk through whose responsibility that particular shot was because if we were going in to play the setter dump or prepared for the setter dump, that setter would just shoot it out to the outside and catch us off-guard in other ways,” Nunziato said. “She did a really good job of seeing the opportunity to dump and seeing the opportunity to run their offense to their outside hitters.”

Martin had four kills down the stretch to keep the Knights from recapturing the lead. Roedocker and Noel Pankratz kept the Knights in the set, staying within four points. Martin’s final kill of the opening set put the Thunder (27-7) within a point of taking the early lead. The Knights staved off two set points, with a block from Grace Olson getting them within 24-23, but Our Redeemer’s sent a shot wide on the next possession to end it.

The only thing that managed to slow down the Thunder was a nosebleed, forcing Opp to the bench for a brief period. That’s when Sorenson entered the fray. Sorenson had just one kill in the opening set, but had surpassed that four points into the second. She had six kills in the second.

Despite Sorenson coming to life offensively, the Knights matched the Thunder stride for stride. Roedocker had three straight kills to give the Knights a 14-11 advantage, but M-P-B won 8 of the next 10 points to build a 19-16 lead.

A block from Lauren Strom pulled Our Redeemer’s to within 24-22, but Sorenson put the Knights in a deep hole with the set-ending kill.

Sorenson was just getting started, as she was responsible for five of her team’s first eight points of the third set to stake the Thunder out to an 8-3 lead. Sorenson added nine kills in the final set and Opp added six of her own, as the Thunder led wire-to-wire, leading by as many as nine points.

“They do a nice job of seeing the court,” Nunziato said. “They have a high vertical. They ran a lot of different routes in that outside area that really was so dynamic on their side where we found ourselves playing a lot of defense and playing survival volleyball. On our side, we did improve our block as the game went on and we were getting more defensive reps. It just wasn’t enough to tip the momentum in our direction.”

The Knights used a late rally to climb back to within 23-19 with kills from Roedocker, Strom, Kaden Braun and Hope Gravley. However, the trio that carried the Thunder all match long were in on the final two points to send them to the state title match. Sorenson’s 15th kill set up set point and Opp’s 17th closed the match out.

The Knights were making their seventh appearance in the state semifinals. The loss drops them to 2-6 in state semifinal matches.

Roedocker led the Knights with 13 kills and two aces. Braun added nine kills and 11 digs. Strom finished with six kills and three blocks. Streyle had a team-high 14 digs and served up two aces.

The Knights close out their season with the third-place match, where they will play Edgeley-Kulm-Montpelier on Saturday, Nov. 22, at 8 a.m. at the Bismarck Event Center’s Main Arena.

“We talked about how hard this team has worked to be at a state tournament for a long time and it was the goal we set out at the beginning of the season,” Nunziato said. “Being here representing Region 3 has been a privilege and we knew the competition doesn’t get easier at the state tournament; it just becomes bigger. It’s been a real amazing opportunity to play on the big floor under the big lights with the friends and family that love us so much. We’ve been enjoying the ride.”