MINOT - Langdon freshman McKenzie Hart knows the man in the cowboy hat isn't sitting in the stands.

That didn't stop Hart from putting a little TLC on her serve in the championship match of the Class B state volleyball tournament. She knows he's watching from above.

Hart served one key non-retrievable ball against the Dickinson Trinity Titans on Saturday night at the Minot State Dome.

The ace, in the fifth and deciding set, secured a state championship for the Langdon Area Cardinals with a 25-27, 25-15, 27-25, 16-25, 15-10 win over the Titans.

It was Langdon's third state crown with the other s coming in 2003 and 2005.

The man in the cowboy hat - Hart's deceased grandpa, Lyle Hart - had been a positive influence in getting Hart's volleyball career started.

She thinks of him on every play. Lyle died last year after losing a battle with leukemia.

"We were really close," an emotional Hart said. "He would always watch me and my older sister. I always picture him in the stands with his cowboy hat on."

Hart played an important role in helping Langdon secure the fifth game and the match. She converted on a block and ran a successful tandem in the middle with Courtney Becker. Hart put down the kill while Becker faked.

"Once we get our passing down, we can connect with it," Langdon coach Rich Olson said of the tandem. "We put that play in two weeks before the postseason when we improved our passing. We have that one rotation where it works for us."

Becker guided the Cardinals with 21 kills. Hart added 15 kills, 23 digs and four aces. Setter Ashley Hall dished out 45 assists.

While Langdon connected on a lot of successful plays, the Cardinals also received help from the Titans in the deciding set. The Titans committed seven hitting errors in the game, including four straight to give Langdon an 8-7 lead. The Cardinals never trailed after that.

Dickinson Trinity won a hard-fought battle in the semifinals in a 3-2 victory over unbeaten Kenmare on Friday night.

Dickinson Trinity coach Melini Grosulak could tell her team wasn't as sharp, but refused to use fatigue as an excuse.

"Our passing wasn't on for us, and it had been all tournament," Grosulak said. "We were tipping a lot, and that gave them an opportunity to get kills. We weren't getting our hands on a lot of balls."

Langdon squandered a 24-20 advantage in the first set. Hart and the Cardinals remained unfazed. The Cardinals dropped every first set in the three-game tournament.

"We knew all along we could do it," Hart said. "The whole tournament we lost every first game. We knew we would recover."

The Cardinals got Becker more involved in the second game. The senior put down Langdon's first seven kills of the game to help her team get out to a 10-4 lead.

"Courtney doesn't play all the way around, so she notices a lot of things on the bench," Olson said. "She said we had to switch up the block. We slid it over and cheated a little bit. She's a smart player, and she knows where the openings are."

Marinna Marsh guided Dickinson Trinity with 10 kills and three aces. Breanna Messer added nine kills and Shannon Ernst seven. Emily Gordon was a force at the net, collecting four blocks.

Trinity 27 15 25 25 10

Langdon 25 25 27 16 15

Trinity: Kills - Marinna Marsh 10, Breanna Messer 9, Shannon Ernst 7. Blocks - Emily Gordon 4, Messer 3, Avery Jirges 1, Marsh 1. Assists - Sheyenne Plummer 28. Digs - Plummer 19, Marsh 18, Ernst 17. Aces - Marsh 3, Chelsy Galipeau 2, Plummer 2.

Langdon: Kills - Courtney Becker 21, McKenzie Hart 15, Rachael Bachman 7. Blocks - Hart 2, Shannon Overby 2, Bachman 2. Assists - Ashley Hall 4. Digs - Hart 23, Breanna Mack 15, Hall 16. Aces - Hart 4, Rachael Darling 2, Mack 1, Hall 1, Mercedes Stein 1.

Records: Trinity 39-8; Langdon 38-8.