Photo via NDHSAA
For the fifth time ever, Langdon Area/Munich is the champion of Class B volleyball.
That gives the Cardinals five titles in their history (2003, 2008, 2010, 2019, 2024) — tied for the most in Class B with Thompson, their semifinal opponent this year.
“It’s hard to rank them because I’ve just been so blessed to have so many great kids,” LA/M head coach Rich Olson, who’s been the coach for nearly three decades, told Ryan Spitza of The Forum. “But this team came a long way. This is probably the team that improved the most from start to finish.”
After winning the Region 4 tournament in Devils Lake, No. 1-seeded LA/M went off to the Fargodome and grinded its way to another title. It squeaked out each of the first two matches in five sets each, before beating South Prairie-Max in a four-set championship match on Saturday.
First, the Cardinals nearly let a 2-0 lead slip away against their quarterfinal opponent, Dickinson Trinity, on Thursday. After winning the first two sets 25-23 and 25-19, LA/M lost a tight one, 27-25, then got blown out in the fourth set, 25-13.
But the Cardinals got it together in the tiebreaking fifth set, moving on to the next round with a 15-8 win.
“It’s tough when you’re up 2-0 and then they come back on you,” Olson told The Forum on Thursday. “They’re really well coached. I have so much respect for [head coach] Breanna [Sisson] at Trinity. I think she’s one of the top coaches in the state and she had a good game plan. We were lucky to get the win, but our girls deserved it with our toughness and our togetherness.”
That brought the two historically best Class B volleyball teams together in the semifinals: Thompson, with its five state titles, and LA/M, with its — at the time — four state titles. The Cardinals have the most state appearances of any Class B team, but until this week, Thompson had an edge in actual championships.
And it required a comeback to take down the Tommies. LA/M won the first set 25-19, but Thompson won each of the next two sets 25-19 to take a 2-1 match lead. The Cardinals had to win a pair of nail-biters to pull out the contest: They won 25-23 to send it to a fifth set, then outlasted Thompson 16-14. It was about as close as a volleyball match gets.
“Just tremendous toughness from our team and we just kept believing,” Olson told The Forum. “Thompson is one of the best teams in the state, there’s no doubt about it.”
It all came down to Saturday, with a championship match between LA/M and South Prairie-Max. The Cardinals lost the first set by an ugly 25-15 score. But it was all Cardinals the rest of the way, as they soared to 25-16, 25-15 and 25-16 set wins to crown their rightful place as champions.
Eighth-grader Hilary Haaven had 20 kills in the win. Senior Meredith Romfo had 15. This was a young LA/M team that was fueled by players like Haaven and sophomore Aubrey Badding, and only had three upperclassmen total. The Cardinals were ranked No. 6 preseason by the NDAPSSA.
“It’s literally surreal,” Romfo told The Forum. “It hasn’t fully sunk in yet. I’m so proud of this group of girls. We’ve come so far. If you saw us this summer, I honestly didn’t know how our season was going to look. But we came and we got better every single day. To win state and to be a state champion as a team, it feels awesome. It’s the best feeling right now.”
The match was won on an ace by Payton Hall, the only senior on the team besides Romfo.
“That last ace by Payton, oh my gosh, I literally sprinted to her and hugged her,” Romfo told The Forum. “I think I tackled her on the ground honestly. It was just great.”
Haaven, Romfo and Hall were named to the All-Tournament Team. The NDHSCA Senior Athlete of the Year and Coach of the Year awards both went to the runner-up, South Prairie-Max, with Azjiah Trader and Keturah Schwarzrock, respectively.
