Forest Park’s Audrey Franz (6) hugs teammate Ema Stepien (12) as the Lady Trojans celebrate winning a point in the final and decisive third set against host North Dickinson in the MHSAA Division 4 District 99 volleyball championship game Thursday night. The Lady Trojans swept the Nordics to advance to the Region 25 semifinal set for Tuesday. (Dennis Mansfield/ Daily News photo)

FELCH — Execution. That one word might have described the difference in the battle for the MHSAA Division 4 District 99 volleyball title hosted by North Dickinson on Thursday night.

In a key second set, the host Nordics struggled. Forest Park didn’t — and won.

The visiting Lady Trojans won the second set by nine points on their way to a 3-0 sweep (25-23, 25-16, 25-18) of North Dickinson to raise the district championship trophy.

“We played well tonight and executed our game plan,” Forest Park coach Bobbie Anderson said. “Last time we played North Dickinson they killed us with tips. Tonight, we covered the floor and forced them to make mistakes instead.

“North Dickinson deserves a lot of credit, though,” Anderson added. “They fought hard and improved a lot since the beginning of the year.”

Lady Trojans' Charlie Larson (11) and Lauren Kudwa (10) look on as teammate Leah Feldhausen (15) tries to block a shot by North Dickinson’s Micah Lindholm (1) during Thursday night’s district title game in Felch. (Dennis Mansfield/ Daily News photo)

Nordics coach Taylor Johnson said she believes that, if her team had been able to rally and win a hard-fought first set, the match might have turned out differently.

“I thought our girls played the first set really tough. We came down from a pretty significant lead and it doesn’t get any closer than that set,” Johnson said. “Had we been able to pull that off, I think it could’ve shifted momentum our way. But Forest Park came out ready in the second set and we just didn’t have it.”

And the difference was execution.

“I think there was a little bit of panic when we lost the first set,” Johnson added. “We made too many errors and gave them too many points. By the time we pulled out of it, it was too late. We never did get our energy back up in the third set.”

Micah Lindholm and Aiden Hord led the Nordics with 10 kills each.

North Dickinson varsity netters Mya Grunlund (4) and Aiden Hord (13) prepare to go up for a potential kill as teammate Jessica Harwath (4) sets the ball in the district championship game at North Dickinson County High School on Thursday. (Dennis Mansfield/Daily News photo)

Hord and Gabby Schultz, who chipped in with 10 assists and two aces, teamed up to lead the defense, both with 18 digs and were perfect at the serving line, as well. Lindholm also contributed 11 digs to the team’s defensive effort.

“I’m proud of the effort we gave and I really think it was overall a competitive, exciting match,” Johnson said

Ema Stepien helped pace the Lady Trojans’ winning effort with a team-high 12 kills, one block, three digs and two aces. Leah Feldhausen chipped in with 10 kills and two blocks, with Charlie Larson adding one 1 kill, 25 assists and five digs.

Other contributors for Forest Park included Ava Fischer (5 kills, 4 aces), Lauren Kudwa (2 kills, 3 assists, 1 dig, 1 ace), Audrey Franz (4 kills, 1 assist, 1 block, 7 digs, 2 aces) and Ashlynn Kannich (4 assists, 8 digs)

“We played with high energy and covered the court well,” Kannich said. “We are all proud of how we played and now we are looking forward to regionals next week.”

Franz echoed her teammate, with the Lady Trojans nest set to host Stephenson on Tuesday, Nov. 8, at 6 p.m. in the MHSAA Region 25 semifinal.

“We played really strong tonight and really pulled together as a team,” she added. “I’m excited to see what we can do going into regionals.”