May-Port-C-G tops Valley City in four sets to capture first state championship in 23 years

BISMARCK When the fourth and final set came to a close, there weren’t many dry eyes left on May-Port-C-G’s bench. The second-seeded Patriots dispatched fourth-seeded Valley City in four sets (25-22, 25-21, 16-25, 25-19) Saturday evening at the Bismarck Event Center to secure the North Dakota Division A state championship. It’s the program’s first state title since 2002. “It’s an adrenaline rush for sure, I still don’t believe it’s real right now,” senior Hudson Zerface said. “I feel like the waterworks were really flowing because I’m a senior and it’s my last hurrah, and I feel like getting this dub for my last (year) of volleyball is insane. It means so much,” junior Paeytn Strand said. “We haven’t won a state championship in a long time, and it’s just so exciting, we all wanted it so bad.” The victory capped off what was an incredible postseason run for May-Port-C-G. Hot off the heels of their Region 2A championship run, the Patriots lost only one set in their three state tournament games, sweeping their opponents in the quarterfinals and semifinals. “It’s so many emotions right now,” May-Port-C-G head coach Stacy Hanson said. “I’m just very proud of the girls. They always say you only need to be good at the end of the season, and I think that’s when we peaked, and we peaked at the right time in our region play and in our state tournament play. It worked out in our favor, and just really proud of the girls.” For the first two sets, it seemed as if the Patriots were on pace for yet another sweep. The Hi-Liners put up a tough battle in the opening set, but May-Port-C-G pulled away from a 21-21 tie with a 4-1 run. The Patriots fended off Valley City at the end of the second set, closing it off with a booming spike from Strand. Strand was a menace all evening long, bringing down her signature crushing hits for a team-high 20 kills. “Getting a good pass, getting to your setters and then Paetyn just smacking it down, it’s like a Christmas present,” Zerface said. Zerface had a fantastic evening herself. She led a stout defensive performance from the Patriots, diving for tough digs and halting dangerous attacks with well-timed punches. Hi-Liners’ star senior Kadie Kocka still managed to earn 25 kills, but May-Port-C-G’s constant ability to keep the ball in play stymied some of her sharp hits. “We were able to get to (Strand) because of people like (Hudson) and our servers,” Hanson said. “Defensively, I thought we played very well, picking those balls up from Kocka and from (Skye Nielson) on the outside. They were hitting some nice balls.” Strand and Zerface were both named to the Division A All-Tournament team. They were joined by two teammates: senior Kiaza Carlson and sophomore Abby Sand. Carlson, Sand and junior Kylie Kroeplin all collected eight kills against the Hi-Liners. Carlson also contributed 19 assists, second only to junior Ella Flaten’s 27. Valley City threw a strong counterpunch in the third set, winning by nine points. “We said we had to come out and just don’t think we have an extra set at the end, we don’t have that fifth set,” Hanson said. “We needed to come out, I think our senior said, ‘We need this, this is our set. ‘We need to go. Getting a few of those points in the beginning, getting some aces that helped us out a lot, just getting momentum in our favor.” May-Port-C-G dominated the final set, jumping off to a 7-1 advantage and closing strong to close out the win. “We really like to stay positive,” Zerface said. “I feel like we really build upon each other when we’re really loud and excited, and feel like that gets everyone swinging, that gets everyone hyped and that gets everyone excited.”.
https://www.inforum.com/sports/prep/may-port-c-g-tops-valley-city-in-four-sets-to-capture-first-state-championship-in-23-years