LEOLA – On a night when treats were hard to come by, Aberdeen Christian and Leola-Frederick had enough tricks for all. The two squads traded comebacks, rallies and set and match points before the host Titans emerged with a five-set victory Tuesday night in the Region 1B tournament.

Leola-Frederick won by set-scores of 25-15, 29-31, 25-15, 24-26 and 19-17.

After breezing through the first set, the Titans looked to be well in control of the match, taking a lead late into the second set. 

But the Knights wouldn’t concede, rallying from a 23-19 deficit to force extra points.

That proved to be a prevailing theme, particularly in the final two sets, as Christian again forced its way into the win column in extra points in the fourth.

“The grit and determination is definitely my favorite thing about these girls,” said Christian coach Sara Powell.

Christian did have a chance to secure the win with a pair of match points in the fifth, but Leola-Frederick returned the favor by pushing the set into extra points before finally taking the set and the match on a kill by Sofia Losure.

Jillian Ellwein topped the Titans with 18 kills. Losure had a huge match with 15 kills, 28 digs and 10 blocks. Jocelynn Ellwein finished with 61 set assists.

Ari Johnson and Chloe Bosma led the way for the Knights. Johnson had a dozen kills, five blocks and a service ace, while Bosma finished with five aces, seven kills and a dozen digs.

Sawyer Schwan notched 18 assists and four more aces, while Jolie Fogarty had nine kills and four blocks. Alexis Isakson finished with 44 digs to pace the Christian back line.

Christian’s season ends at 13-18 overall.

“I couldn’t be more proud of them,” Powell said. “The growth these girls have shown this year makes all the hours in the gym worth it. We had lots of tears tonight and that shows me how much they truly care and wanted it. I have so many young girls and the future is very bright for our program.”

The Titans (15-12) will move on to face top-seeded – and top-rated – Warner Thursday night in Warner in the second round of the Region 1B tournament. The winner of that match will advance to the SoDak 16.

Serving: Aberdeen Christian 97-108 11 aces (Chloe Bosma 24-25 5 aces, Sawyer Schwan 26-28 4 aces, Ari Johnson 14-15 1 ace); Leola-Frederick 106-118 3 aces (Laura Sumption 19-19 2 aces, Morgan Sumption 24-24 1 ace).

Hitting: Aberdeen Christian 146-179 29 kills (Johnson 20-27 12 kills, Jolie Fogarty 34-39 9 kills, Bosma 26-43 7 kills); Leola-Frederick 115-140 67 kills (Jillian Ellwein 25-30 18 kills, Sofia Losure 29-35 15 kills).

Setting: Aberdeen Christian 173-183 28 assists (Schwan 84-88 18 assists, Fogarty 71-75 8 assists); Leola-Frederick 126-128 67 assists (Jocelynn Ellwein 96-98 61 assists, M. Sumption 3-3 2 assists, L. Sumption 2-2 1 assist).

Digs: Aberdeen Christian 105 (Alexis Isakson 44, Bosma 12, Payton Skarin 12); Leola-Frederick 135 (Losure 28, L. Sumption 26).

Blocks: Aberdeen Christian 8 (Johnson 5, Fogarty 4, Bosma 1); Leola-Frederick 8 solo 10 assists (Losure 6 solo 4 assists).

Records: Aberdeen Christian 13-18; Leola-Frederick 15-12.