Mike Kraft/MDN Seniors Emma Jones (8), Sophie Cunningham (center) and Aubrie Quick (5) helped guide Glenburn to its first district championship in program history. The Panthers play Ray in the opening round of the Region 3 Tournament on Monday, Nov. 10, at the Minot Municipal Auditorium.

A lot has changed this year when it comes to the landscape of high school volleyball in North Dakota.

The two-class system was replaced with a three-class system in an attempt to create a more even playing field. As a result, the number of regions and districts shrunk, but the number of paths to the state tournament grew, providing more hope to teams that used to view a trip to state as a mere pipe dream.

Despite all the changes and shuffling of teams to new regions, the most straightforward way to assure a trip to the state tournament remains the same: win the region tournament.

That is what eight teams are vying for when they come together at the Minot Municipal Auditorium beginning Monday, Nov. 10, for the Region 3 Tournament. Glenburn is the No. 1 seed out of District 6 after claiming its first district title in program history. Our Redeemer’s is the No. 2 seed, followed by Westhope-Newburg at No. 3 and Surrey at No. 4. Kenmare-Bowbells is the District 5 champion and the No. 1 seed from that district. Trenton is the No. 2 seed, while Divide County is the No. 3 seed and Ray the No. 4 seed.

“The region is competitive and it’s new territory,” Our Redeemer’s coach Kara Nunziato said. “Our regional tournament and even this district tournament have never looked like this before, so regionals will feel especially different as it’s teams a lot of us don’t see in a regular season matchup. It’s a whole new vibe with new teams and new matchups.”

The number attached to the region may be new to the Knights, but playing in a region tournament is nothing out of the ordinary. Our Redeemer’s is making its 23rd appearance at a regional tournament with 11 titles to its name. Ray is also in the regional field for the 23rd time.

The Knights play Divide County in the quarterfinal round, a team they did not see during the regular season. The Maroons have never won a region title in their first 14 appearances, but have made the title game in four instances.

The Knights’ roster boasts six seniors. Brooklynn Roedocker and Noel Pankratz have been their two big hitters, while Grace Olson sets the offense in motion at the setter position. Junior Lauren Strom provides a solid block up front as the tallest member of the team at 6-foot.

Our Redeemer’s was denied an 11th district title by the top-seeded Panthers, who are looking to add another chapter to their historic season. Glenburn competed in a district championship for the first time and swept the Knights for the title. Now, the Panthers hope they can ride that momentum to their first region title when they open the tournament against Ray. The regional tournament hasn’t been kind to the Panthers in the past. In their first five appearances, Glenburn has advanced out of the quarterfinal just once, with that coming in 2019.

Glenburn does have a reason to feel confident, however, as it has played more matches against District 5 opponents than any of the other three from District 6 – including its first-round opponent – and had success against them all. The Panthers defeated Kenmare in a 5-set match and again in the Glenburn Tournament. In the Northwest Conference Tournament, the Panthers matched up with Divide County, Ray, Kenmare-Bowbells and Trenton, defeating all but the Honkers.

“For our region, I would definitely say we are a stronger region, but we can’t come in anticipating anything less,” Glenburn coach Sierra Hansen said. “We’ve played Ray in a tournament. They are a competitive team, so we can’t come in not ready to win.”

Glenburn’s Emma Jones was named District 6 Senior Athlete of the Year. Jones and junior Ava Stevens have been the team’s leading kill leaders throughout the season.

It’s hard to be an underdog at this stage of the season, but that’s the mentality that Newburg-Westhope has adopted throughout its postseason run. The Eagles advanced to their ninth regional tournament after outlasting Velva in five sets. Now, they have to overcome the obstacle that is the regional quarterfinal. Newburg-Westhope is 0-8 in the opening round of the regional tournament, winning just one set and being swept seven times. It’ll get a ninth opportunity when it plays Trenton.

The Tigers are making their 15th regional appearance and won their first title in 2023. They had won seven consecutive District 15 titles before making the move to District 5 this year, finishing runner-up to Kenmare-Bowbells.

Newburg-Westhope coach Amanda LaCroix has more experience than most with the teams from the other district, as she played against them during her time at Watford City. Before the Wolves made the jump to what is currently known as Class AA, they were a part of District 15 and Region 8 along with Trenton, Kenmare-Bowbells, Divide County and Ray.

“I’m originally from Watford City, so there are people from that region that I used to play against when we were in Class B,” LaCroix said. “I know a couple of the teams, the players, the coaches and I’m really excited to play against them.”

The Eagles have the fewest number of seniors on the roster among the District 6 representatives with just two, but both Natalia Zettell and Marleigh Henry have played pivotal roles as middle hitter and setter, respectively, in getting the Eagles to the regional tournament.

While the Eagles are confident they can get over that quarterfinal hump, they still embrace that underdog role.

“I never want to think that I’m not humble enough to think that we can’t be beat, but I also don’t want to make my kids think that I don’t have any confidence in them, because I do,” LaCroix said. “I would just like the edge that they have somewhere to reach and then when they reach it, they feel that confidence and that ownership that every hit or every rally, it’s what they earned. It’s not given to them and that’s why I think we’re the underdog.”

Surrey doesn’t feel like an underdog despite being the No. 4 seed and having to face a team with rich volleyball history in Kenmare-Bowbells. The Honkers are making their 22nd regional appearance, have 10 region titles, 16 district titles and two state titles. Meanwhile, this is Surrey’s third trip to the regional tournament. The Mustangs won their first ever regional matches last season, advancing to the title game, but falling to South Prairie-Max.

“We’re no stranger to being the No. 4 seed in regionals,” Surrey coach Michaela Martin said. “We did it last year. If we can play the way we did (in the regional qualifier), there’s not going to be much to do to stop this team. We’ve played those higher ranked teams from the other district, so I think our odds match up favorably, it just depends on if we show up for that first game.”

Surrey met all four District 5 opponents in the Northwest Conference Tournament in October, beating Ray in pool play before taking down Divide County and Trenton in the first two rounds of the Gold Division. Kenmare-Bowbells defeated Surrey in the championship match in a three-set tiebreaker.

Despite some crossover meetings during in-season tournaments, there is still a cloud of mystery between the two districts. The strategy and lineups a team uses during an in-season tournament is not always the strategy and lineups they use during a typical regular season match or postseason match. As a result, there is a level of unpredictability that comes along with this new version of the Region 3 Tournament.

“Last year, the other district that made up the rest of the region, we played all of them during the regular season,” Martin said. “This year, we’ve only seen four or five of these teams in a tournament, so we don’t know much about them, they don’t know much about us, so it’s going to be a totally different look and feel to it.”

One thing that is for sure is that it will be competitive. While none of the teams in the region cracked the top five in the final poll voted on by members of the North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, Kenmare-Bowbells, Glenburn and Surrey all received votes.

With the new three-class system, Region 3 will have the opportunity to send as many as three representatives to the state tournament. The region tournament champion will get one of the automatic bids, but both the runner-up and the winner of the third-place match will have the opportunity to play a team from Region 4 in a state-qualifying match. The runner-up will play the third-place match winner from Region 4, and the third-place match winner from Region 3 will play the runner-up from Region 4.

“The play-in game keeps a lot of teams in the fight,” Nunziato said. “The goal is to take the region championship, but the play-in games absolutely change the whole demographic of what our region looks like and what the state tournament will look like.”

The eight Region 3 representatives have combined for 29 state tournament appearances.