Watford City put a scare into the defending regional champions, but Stanley came back from losing the first game to win the District 15 championship match 3-2 on Thursday night in Stanley.

The back-and-forth match featured momentum swings to both sides, but the Blue Jays came out ahead in the final game to win 15-25, 25-10, 25-19, 25-27, 15-7.

"I thought we played well as a team after that first game," said Stanley coach Jessica Niemitalo. "We started to play with more aggression."

The Wolves pulled away from the top-seeded Blue Jays in the first game, jumping out to a 20-11 lead after back-to-back aces from Karson Pederson, and they won the game 25-15.

Stanley regrouped in the break between games, and Karlie Hoherz' ace capped a 14-1 run to start the second and the Blue Jays easily tied the match. They went up as high as 22-9 in the third game and looked ready to cruise to a win, but Watford City went on a 10-2 run to keep the game close before losing. The Wolves were able to carry that momentum into the fourth game, which they won 27-25 on their fourth game point, but Stanley again fought back to easily take the decisive fifth game.

Charlie Hystad led Watford CIty eight kills, and Marti Quale had 21 assists and 15 digs. Sierra Perdue had 15 digs, and McKayla Haugeberg had nine aces.

Stanley's Rachel Mehus had ten kills to lead her team, and ReeAnn Mehus had 22 assists. Shaunessy Dauwalder had five blocks up front.

Stanley earns the No. 1 seed in the district and will play Tioga at 3 p.m. on Monday in the Region 8 opener in Tioga. Watford City will play Burke County in the fourth match of the night.

Stanley 3, Watford City 2

WC 25 10 19 27 7

Stanley 15 25 25 25 15

Watford City stats

Kills - Charlie Hystad 8, McKayla Haugeberg 5, Karson Pederson 5, Ashli Foli 5, Marti Quale 3, Justine Homiston 2, Jayme Johnson 1; Assists - Quale 21, Sierra Perdue 2, Pederson 1; Aces - Haugeberg 9, Quale 4, Pederson 4, Brianna Allex 3, Olivia Sundeen 1, Perdue 1; Blocks - Pederson 3, Foli 2, Hystad 1; Digs - Quale 15, Perdue 15, Allex 9, Haugeberg 8, Sundeen 6, Foli 2, Pederson 2, Homiston 1

Stanley stats

Kills - Rachel Mehus 10, Brooke Meyer 9, Bailey Hornberger 8, Jasmin Pappa 7, Shaunessy Dauwalder 6; Digs - Jasmin Pappa 14, Dauwalder 11, ReeAnn Mehus 8, Hornberger 8; Assists - ReeAnn Mehus 22; Aces - Rachel Mehus 4; Blocks - Dauwalder 5, Meyer 4, Hornberger 4