TRAER — The North Tama volleyball team advanced to the regional finals for the sixth time in the last eight seasons, beating Belle Plaine in a 3-0 sweep in Monday’s Class 1A Region 7 semifinals.

The fifth-ranked Redhawks (24-15) will face River Valley (30-2) in Wednesday’s regional final at 7 p.m. at Webster City High School for a shot at the state tournament. River Valley outlasted Newell-Fonda in a five-set thriller, overcoming a match point to prevail 25-17, 15-25, 24-26, 27-25, 15-7.

North Tama, meanwhile, made quick work of Belle Plaine (17-14) to get back to the regional finals. The Redhawks won their sixth straight match by besting the Plainsmen 25-7, 25-20, 25-14.

Kruiz Ewoldt compiled 16 kills to power the Redhawk attack. Briar Blake and Lily Sell finished with six kills apiece, and Cayleigh Heller added a pair of successful kills. Zoey Rausch racked up 18 assists and Heller had 10 more.

North Tama made seven service errors but overcame them with eight aces. Addison Hochstetler was 11-for-12 with four aces, while Kylie Calderwood served 16-for-16 with one ace. Rausch was 10-for-11 with an ace, and Hadyn Wilson was 8-for-8.

Blake led the Redhawk defense with three blocks while Rausch and Ewoldt had one apiece.

Belle Plaine was led by Kayleah Laughlin, who had 11 kills and two blocks.

North Tama made consecutive trips to state in 2021 and 2022 before last year’s regional final defeat at the hands of Don Bosco.