ROLLA — It’s been over a decade since Langdon Area/Munich was in a district.
In the first year of the three-class system, with a slew of teams placed in the new District 4, the Cardinals (32-5-1) won the district title. The defending state champions outlasted Benson County (28-3) in three sets Monday evening at Rolla Public School: 25-23, 25-21 and 25-18.
“It’s nice to be able to get that first championship in the postseason, district variety,” Cardinals head coach Rich Olson said. “To get the No. 1 seed going into the regional, it’s a great thing.”
The Wildcats, ranked No. 4 in the state, made the Cardinals sweat — especially in the first set. LA/M led only 13-12, with just one kill thus far from leading hitter Hilary Haaven.
“We needed to pass better,” Haaven said. “I think that was our issue most of the game. And once we started getting better balls to Kemi [Morstad], everything started clicking better.”
Haaven finally got one in her lane. Her attack was returned, but she smacked one for a kill on the following hit.
After a dump kill by Morstad, an ace by Mya Swanson and a kill from Emma Hall, all in succession, the Cardinals stretched their lead to 21-16.
Up 24-19, LA/M lost four set points in a row. Olson held a timeout as the Benson County fan section was bumping.
“They served tough tonight. And, I mean, we struggled a little bit with our passing tonight, which is not normal for us,” Olson said. “But they came with a lot of energy. They wanted to knock us off. And we expected nothing less than that. They have a lot of good athletes over there that can make plays, and we really had to step up and make plays ourselves.”
After getting back on the court, Haaven made a hit that was dug out by Addisyn Faul. But Haaven finished the point and the set anyway, getting the Wildcats tied up in front of the net. The Cardinals squeaked out a 25-23 win.
LA/M found itself in a 7-4 hole to open the second set after four consecutive aces by Lacie Fautsch.
The Cardinals struggled to corral Fautsch’s pace. Benson County’s Liberty Streyle also had four aces on the night.
“Just the movement and velocity, they had some nice, flat, clean serves,” Olson said. “They serve aggressively, and we’ve handled that. We serve aggressively, too. We just got into a weird funk tonight in passing, and that really sparked Benson County at times to get them going.”
Haaven had an ace of her own to help tie the set back up. The Wildcats hung around for a bit, taking an 11-9 lead at one point. But LA/M exploded for a 13-1 run with two Benson County timeouts interspersed within.
Haaven started to find her groove. She tallied eight kills in the second set, finishing four of the last nine points the Cardinals won.
Feist came up with a big block on Fautsch as part of a 6-0 run. She totaled five kills and three blocks for kill, unofficially. Hall also contributed to the Cardinals’ second-set rampage with one of four kills on the night.
“Our serve really bothers them, and when we’re in system, we’re really hard to stop,” Haaven said. “All of our hitters were all weapons.”
After LA/M had a lead as large as 23-13, Fautsch punched back with two consecutive kills to keep the second set alive.
Benson County was once again a pest on set point: The Cardinals lost a whopping six straight. Kaitlyn Maddock had two aces in that stretch. Aubrey Kenner had three kills there, too, including one that she just tipped over.
LA/M eventually put the 25-21 win to rest on a net violation.
“They just kept coming back and coming back and making a run,” Olson said of the Wildcats. “And I think we just went out and made the next play. We got the ball to our hitters. I thought Kemi had a great match at setter, and she did a good job delivering the ball to our hitters. Our hitters stepped up and made some great plays. We got contributions from everybody. That’s what you need when you get into any big matches like this.”
LA/M led the third set fairly comfortably at 12-7, but Benson County still trimmed it to 15-14.
The Cardinals separated themselves with a 4-0 run, fueled by a kill and two aces from Haaven.
Mya Swanson came up big in the third set, with four of her five kills on the night.
They wrapped up the match with kills from Hallie Overby and Morstad. Haaven wound up leading LA/M with 18 kills unofficially — still a big night for the freshman star after a relatively slow beginning.
“She doesn’t get a few swings; she knows it’s gonna come her way eventually,” Olson said. “And she’s one of our best defensive players, too.”
So, when regionals begin next Monday, the Cardinals will be right where they’re used to being. They’ll go in as the No. 1 seed from a competitive District 4. The district combines with the top four teams from the District 3 tournament to form the Region 2 field.
“Confident,” Olson said of how his team feels. “We believe in each other, and these girls love playing with each other, and practicing with each other, and being around each other. Ultimately, this is the first step in the postseason, and we’ve got bigger goals ahead.”
The tournament is scheduled for Monday, Tuesday and Thursday of next week at the Devils Lake Sports Center.
In addition to wining the district title, LA/M also had the most all-district selections with five. Haaven, Feist, Morstad, Swanson and Raeleigh Ratzlaff were named.
Now, the Cardinals look to make noise in the region and get back to the state tournament — where they won the program’s fifth state championship last year. They’ll begin their regional run against Cavalier, the No. 4 seed from District 3.
“We’re super excited,” Haaven said. “Last year was so fun. Hopefully we can do that again.”
