Neither Des Lacs-Burlington nor South Prairie-Max were able to come away with victories on the final day of the Class A state tournament on Saturday, Nov. 22.

The Lakers dropped a four-set match to Hazen in the seventh-place match played at Bismarck High School, 25-17, 27-25, 22-25, 25-21, and settled for an eighth-place finish for the second straight appearance.

Piper Feller led the Lakers with 14 kills and Mycah Faken joined her in double figures with 12. Faken and Feller also added two aces. Hailey Goetz led the offense with 40 assists and the defense with 19 digs.

Feller was named to the all-tournament team.

South Prairie-Max was locked in a tight contest with Central Cass in the third place match at the Bismarck Event Center, but it was the Squirrels who came away with a five-set victory, 23-25, 25-17, 23-25, 25-18, 15-11.

In their first two appearances at the state tournament, the Royals now have a fourth-place finish and a runner-up finish. Hattie Heer led the Royals with 13 kills. Keira Francis had 10 and Skotti Beck added eight kills. Beck also recorded 19 digs and one ace.

“I felt the team played hard,” South Prairie-Max coach Lisa McQueen said. “I would have liked to finish it off with a win. We had too many service errors. I’m proud of the team. We had a great overall season.”

The Royals finished with 29 blocks, led by Kinley Scholla’s nine. Heer finished with 8 stuffs at the net.

Francis and Beck were named to the all-tournament team.

May-Port-C-G won its fourth state title and its first since 2002, defeating Valley City in four sets, 25-22, 25-21, 16-25, 25-19. The Patriots finished runner-up to Northern Cass in 2023, their last appearance at the state tournament since 2002. The Hi-Liners were seeking their first title after moving down to Class A after playing in the EDC under the two-class system.

May-Port-C-G dropped just one set en route to the title, sweeping Des Lacs-Burlington in the quarterfinal and Central Cass in the semifinal.

Paetyn Strand led the Patriots with 20 kills.

Thompson took fifth place, defeating Dickinson Trinity in straight sets.

Central Cass swept the postseason awards, with Izzy Thompson being named the senior athlete of the year and Dana Stansbery being named coach of the year.