Mike Kraft/MDN Glenburn’s Emma Jones hits past the block of Velva’s Anya Olson (5) and Pavyn Peterson (14) during a District 6 semifinal match at the Minot Municipal Auditorium on Friday, Oct. 31.

It only seemed appropriate that Halloween was the night that the Glenburn volleyball team exorcised its district tournament demons.

Entering this season, not only had the Panthers never played in a district tournament championship match, they hadn’t even advanced to one.

That haunting stat is no more, as Glenburn lifted the curse and will get the chance to play for a district title for the first time in program history after dispelling Velva, 18-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-20, in a District 6 semifinal match on Friday, Oct. 31, at the Minot Municipal Auditorium. The semifinal victory guarantees the Panthers a spot in the Region 3 tournament, their sixth appearance in a regional.

“For Glenburn, it’s huge,” Glenburn coach Sierra Hansen said. “It means a lot to those girls. They don’t get recognized very much and us going to that championship match on Monday just proves how good we are and how good we can compete.”

The Panthers were 0-4 in district tournament semifinals entering Friday’s match and had only won a single set over the course of those four matches. It was looking like the drought would continue after dropping the opening set and trailing 7-1 early in the second. But Glenburn started to find its rhythm and took advantage of some miscues by the Aggies to respond with a 16-3 run to grab hold of the second set. Glenburn’s Ava Stevens had three aces in a five-point stretch as well as a kill. Velva committed seven errors during the run.

“We both fought really hard and it just ended up that we made a couple of more errors when it came to our attacks and service receives got a little bit shaky in one of those sets and that ultimately can’t happen when you’re playing a really good team,” Velva coach Cassidy Peterson said.

The Aggies didn’t go quietly and produced a late rally of their own to claw to within 21-20 on the heels of four aces from Makena Panchot. Velva had 10 aces as a team. But the Panthers produced four of the final five points, capped off by a kill and ace from Emma Jones to close out the set and pull Glenburn even in the match.

At times, the match felt like a duel between Jones and Velva’s Anya Olson. Jones led the Panthers for the second straight night in kills with 18, while Olson racked up a match-high 25 for the Aggies. The two combined for 12 kills in the third set and nine in the fourth.

“She just does a great job,” Peterson said of Olson. “She’s big around that net. She doesn’t really let a lot of things bug her. If she gets blocked, she just shakes it off. She plays a nice, loose game and she was really big for us on our stats and our kills.”

Emerging from that duel to contribute timely points for the Panthers was the youngest member of the Panthers and also Emma’s younger sister, Mila. The eighth-grade middle blocker followed in her sister’s footsteps with a couple big kills in the third set to help fuel a 10-3 run to build a 17-11 lead.

“It was just communication,” Mila Jones said. “Finding the open spots and being excited when we made a point and working together and being a team. “It’s fun to join (Emma). I’m so grateful to be on this team and play with my sister.”

Mila Jones added four more kills in the fourth and closing set to help send the Panthers to the district championship. She finished with six kills, two blocks and 14 digs.

“As an eighth-grader, you couldn’t ask for more from her,” Hansen said. “She tries every time. She’s always looking to improve in every single spot that she plays.”

The Panthers fell behind early in each set, but found ways to rally the final three instances. They trailed 10-6 in the fourth with Velva looking to send the match to a fifth-set tiebreaker, but a 8-3 run helped Glenburn capture the lead. When the Aggies reclaimed the lead at 18-17, Mila Jones recorded three kills and Karah Anderson added another as the Panthers finished off the match by winning seven of the final nine points.

Glenburn will look for its first district championship when it plays Our Redeemer’s on Monday, Nov. 3, at the Minot Municipal Auditorium. The top-seeded Knights outlasted Berthold in five sets, 25-15, 18-25, 25-7, 15-25, 15-13, to reach the title game.

“We’re going to be a little nervous,” Mila Jones said. “We don’t get in the championships much, so we’re excited and ready to win.”

Earlier in the day, both Surrey and Newburg-Westhope kept their seasons alive in the elimination round. Surrey knocked off Drake-Anamoose in straight sets, 25-22, 25-16, 25-17, and Newburg-Westhope rallied for a four-set victory over TGU, 18-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-15. Newburg-Westhope will play a regional-qualifier against Velva and Surrey will play Berthold.