Sue Sitter/PCT The 2022 District 11 Champion Rugby Panthers Volleyball squad poses for a photo. From top row left are Assistant Coach Olivia Erpelding, Reese Gullickson, Peyton Hauck, Lacie Deplazes, Joey Wolf, Savannah McCall, Kendra Leier, Hailey Solem, Caitlyn Towe, Alyssa Peterson, Head Coach Jessica Fritz and Assistant Coach Deb Goven. From front left are Adison Dosch, Kendyl Hager, Ally Graner, Mykell Heidlebaugh, Kaden DeMontigny, Annie Risovi, Mariann Kraft and Journey Jundt.

The Rugby Panthers went on the prowl for their ninth straight District 11 Volleyball champion title at Drake High School Oct. 20-31.

After some fierce battles, Rugby came home late on Halloween with title number nine.

All nine titles have come under the watch of Panthers Coach Jessica Fritz.

“I took over in 2010,” Fritz said after the Panthers accepted their championship plaque. “It’s been a fun ride and each one is as exciting as the last.”

“We’re just going to keep fighting and go for 10 next year, I hope,” she added. “We’re going to stay positive and now, we’ve got other things to do and we’ve got three more games to win.”

Rugby first faced the TGU Titans, a battle-ready squad that had surprised many by taking down top-ranked Region 6 rivals South Prairie Max during the regular season.

The Titans fell 3-0 in the first round after trading leads and ties in each game, with support from outside hitter Ashley Martodam and setting Iliana Arias, whose blocks and kills kept TGU in the fight. The team’s young roster included eighth grader Aiddison Neshem and freshman Bostyn Bailey, who held their own against Rugby’s 10 seniors.

But after early struggles for the lead, the sure-footed Panthers surged ahead. Rugby setter Joey Wolf alternated short lobs over the net with devastating spikes. Middle blocker Lacie Deplazes, a sophomore and middle hitter Kendra Leier, a senior, racked up kills for the Panthers as well.

Aces by outside hitter Peyton Hauck and defensive specialist Ally Graner earned Rugby a round 1 win.

Next up for the Panthers was Drake-Anamoose.

The Raiders’ home crowd advantage helped the team stay on the Panthers’ tails for most of the first set, before blocks and attacks at the net by Deplazes and Wolf helped Rugby leap out to a commanding lead.

After the 25-14 set 1 win, the Panthers repeated the pattern, this time, with Drake-Anamoose struggling even to tie early in the first set. The Panthers held a commanding lead, winning the set 25-14.

Set two followed the same pattern, until an ace by Drake-Anamoose setter Adryen Felber and a kill by middle blocker Halie Fletschock put the Raiders within two points mid-set.

Errors and a net violation kept the Raiders close behind. A kill by outside hitter Jamie Lemer at set point staved off a Panthers win for two plays until a misserve gave the Panthers a second set win with a score of 25-19.

Set three saw the pattern continue. The Panthers stayed one step ahead, thanks to well-executed plays at the net, an impenetrable wall of blockers and Joran Jundt, the Panthers libero who dove to the floor for multiple saves.

Before the 3-0 win for the Panthers over the Raiders, TGU stayed in the fight to land a berth in the qualifier round on the final tournament day. In the last-chance game on tournament day 2, the Titans sent the Nedrose Cardinals home for the season.

Westhope-Newburg’s Eagles, who had defeated Velva 3-1 in the opening round of the tourney, proved itself a force to be reckoned with when it won a set against top-seed Bottineau before going down in defeat.

The battles set the stage for the final match on Halloween between the number 1-seed Stars and the second-seeded Panthers.

Panthers battle Stars, illness in final match

The Panthers saw a last-minute change in plans when libero Joran Jundt came down with an illness and had to stay home sick.

“We knew that was going to be a tough match and Bottineau was going to come out ready to play,” Fritz said. “We needed to step up and play extra hard for her.”

The Panthers brought their A-game to the net, continuing a pattern of well-coordinated footwork and well-executed kills. Wolf and Deplazes found gaps in Bottineau’s side of the court for kills. Leier stopped powerful kill attempts by Stars middle hitters Kylie Simpson and Kyra Beckman.

Mariann Kraft donned the libero jersey for the Panthers and did a remarkable job for Jundt.

The Panthers seemed headed for an easy 3-0 win, taking sets 1 and 2 each 25-14.

But the Stars weren’t ready to go home yet.

An early set 3 Panthers lead evaporated when Simpson blocked a Rugby kill attempt. The Panthers seemed off-balance, making costly errors.

Stars outside hitter Rebecca Benson blasted through a Panthers block attempt. An ace by Stars outside hitter Emma Rybchinski tied the score at 14 each.

Errors and well-executed kills by Simpson and Beckman put the Stars in the lead. Despite a timeout by Fritz to help Rugby re-center, Simpson and Beckman continued breaking through the Panthers’ front line.

An ace by defensive specialist Shaela Johnson wrapped up a 25-16 Stars win.

“That third set, we kind of sat back on our heels a little too much and let Bottineau get in the lead, but we came back for the next set on fire, and I told them we couldn’t give up,” Fritz said.

The Panthers leaped to an early lead for set 4 and held on.

The Stars struggled back to a 9-9 tie. Mixed signals and errors gave the Stars the lead before Rugby clawed back and pulled ahead.

Leier stayed busy at the net, alternating spikes with lobs for kills.

At game point, the Stars fought back from a four-point deficit with two kills by Simpson before Savannah McCall put the game away for the Panthers with a kill at the net.

“They have a really good team,” Wolf said of Bottineau before she posed for photos with her team. “They have some really strong hitters, but we were able to get some big blocks up and stop their hits.”

Tournament officials named Wolf, Deplazes, Hauck and Heidlebaugh to the 2022 All-District 11 Team.

With a district win sewn up, the Panthers turned their focus to District 12’s Surrey Mustangs, a team the Panthers had beaten in a regular season game at Surrey.

“Our goal is to get back into that region championship game,” Fritz said. “Last year, Mohall kind of knocked us out right away. We came in a little flat. But this year, we’ve got to go in and get some revenge for everything that went down last year and come in a little more confident this year.”

The second place Stars were set to take on South Prairie-Max. Third place Drake-Anamoose would take on Bishop Ryan, while fourth-place Westhope-Newburg prepared to do battle with Our Redeemer’s Christian School.

The Region 6 championships will be held at Minot’s Memorial Auditorium Nov. 7-10.