11/09/15 • By The Telegram Staff

WAHPETON, N.D. -- The Raiders had their backs against the wall and were a set away from elimination, but didn't give in.

The Central Community College volleyball team defeated North Dakota State College of Science two times in three tries to win the District G title and move on to the national tournament.

The Raiders fell to the Wildcats in straight sets Friday but beat them in five sets and in a sweep Saturday to advance.

"I will say they played very well against us Friday night," Central head coach Mary Young said. "They played good team defense and they blocked well. They attacked the ball well, too. We, on the other hand, did not play our best team defense and when we did, we didn't pass well, so that limited us on offense throughout the match."

In the five-set win, Central was down two sets to one, before winning Sets 4 and 5.

Payton Chohon swatted 24 kills to lead the Raiders. Keely Woods and Morgan Nikkila each added 13 kills and Keshia Ellwanger had 10.

"We told the girls it will be tough and we just said we'll win Set 1," Young said. "We had to win Set 4 to extend our season and we did. I felt a lot of things came together for us in Set 4. We started to wear them down and that carried over to the final set."

Central clinched the district by completely turning things around and sweeping the Wildcats in the final match. Chohon had 16 kills and three aces. Woods added nine kills.

"I didn't think they had an answer for Payton, and besides that, we got a lot of big swings from Keely Woods and Hillary Thege blocked well, and Morgan Nikkila and Keshia Ellwanger were very steady," Young said. "Riley Dorn was setting a great game and distributed well and we played well as a team. I think the girls knew they could do it. They were on a mission. I saw a lot of determination on their faces in the third match and they just showed a lot of heart."

The Raiders have yet to find out who's next as the brackets will be released Tuesday.

"We'll go out next week ready to play and our goal was to make it here, so we'll see who we're playing and get focused on the first match," Young said.

Friday and Saturday at Wahpeton, North Dakota

Match 1

Central (28-12) 20 20 21

NDSCS (26-7) 25 25 25

Match 2

Central (29-12) 25 18 23 25 15

NDSCS (26-8) 22 25 25 18 11

Match 3

Central (30-12) 25 25 25

NDSCS (26-9) 23 22 18

Tournament Totals

* KILLS: Central - Payton Chohon 49, Morgan Nikkila 30, Keely Woods 25.

* BLOCKS: Central - Keely Woods 4.

* ACE SERVES: Central - Payton Chohon 5.

* ASSISTS: Central - Riley Dorn 130.

* DIGS: Central - Alyssa Thege 35.