Ryan Ladika/MDN Magee Rovig, 12, finished Bishop Ryan’s 3-0 win Monday night with a game-high 37 assists and one ace.

The first day of the Class B Region 6 volleyball tournament concluded in thrilling fashion Monday night, as the Bishop Ryan Lions topped the Drake-Anamoose Raiders in straight sets, 25-17, 25-18, 26-24 at the Minot Auditorium.

The two teams met after impressive showings from both in their respective district tournaments. The Lions bounced back from a District 12 semifinal defeat to Des Lacs-Burlington with a four-set win over South Prairie-Max to qualify for regionals; the Raiders, meanwhile, put up a valiant effort in the District 11 championship but fell in three hotly-contested sets to Rugby.

Ryan began the evening’s fourth and final match quickly, jumping out to an 8-1 lead with help from a trio of Sydney Upton kills and two more Sabryn Ronning aces. Raiders head coach Annie Jo Arnold called a break for her squad and Drake-Anamoose responded, scoring seven of the next nine points led by a pair of aces and a kill from senior outside hitter Riley Hauff.

Upton, Berkley Lundeen and Chinelo Udekwe factored in on Ryan’s 10-5 stretch that halted the Raiders’ momentum and opened a 20-13 lead, and a Magee Rovig kill would later seal the first set by a 25-17 score for the Lions. The trio would finish the evening with 19, 11 and 11 kills, respectively.

“Our serves were aggressive, and we were able to have the ball find the floor,” Lions head coach Nicholas Theis said. “I had three hitters in double digits, which hasn’t happened yet this season, where all three on the same night break double digits. So I think that was part of it, just moving the ball around everyone was playing calm and together.”

Drake-Anamoose’s Taryn Sieg and Hauff notched kills to help the Raiders out to a 4-2 lead in the middle frame, but an Upton ace and a Drake-Anamoose net violation helped the Lions to a brief 3-0 stretch, tying the set at five.

Rylee Martin then recorded a kill to aid Drake-Anamoose to a slim 6-5 advantage before Ryan rattled off an 8-3 stretch on the backs of Lundeen, Tyanna Weeks, Udekwe and Upton, stealing the advantage right back at 13-9.

Drake-Anamoose earned a quick four points, led by Hauff and Sieg, but the Lions churned out 12 more points to the Raiders’ five to seal the second set by a 25-18 score.

“We have been great at moving the ball around, and tonight we did great at picking stuff up and moving the ball around to get others open,” Lundeen said. “We have a great offense, we have great hitters, and we’ve really been working at that this week, and so I think it’s awesome we were able to come out here tonight and be able to do that.”

Drake-Anamoose emerged with a vengeance in the final frame, scoring eight of the first 11 points with help from Hauff and Sieg, who led the team with 12 and five kills, respectively, and the Raiders would later force a Ryan timeout with a 5-0 run that extended their lead to 15-10.

Two more kills and an ace from Upton, as well as a Udekwe kill, would pull the Lions closer at 19-16, and Ryan would score two more points for each of the Raiders’ one until the crowd erupted with a 24-24 tie on a Ronning ace.

After Ryan took a 25-24 lead, a double-contact violation would seal the Lions’ comeback after they trailed by as many as six points twice.

“We’re a great team, we really work on our mindset picking each other up, and so I think that has really helped us all year,” Lundeen added. “We’ve focused on that a lot. I think it’s just been our hard work all year that helped us to do that.”

Rovig would finish with a game-high 37 assists for the Lions and Upton notched a game-high five aces. Jazzy Hase led the Raiders with 22 assists and Hauff, Sieg and Jamie Lemer combined for four aces.

The Lions advance to the Region 6 semifinals Tuesday evening and will square off against the Our Redeemer’s Knights at approximately 7:30 p.m. from the Minot Auditorium.