RED OAK, Iowa — It's back to the state volleyball tournament after a two-year absence for Treynor.

The Class 1-A No. 4 Cardinals earned the spot by knocking off No. 15 Stanton 25-10, 25-20, 24-26, 27-25 in the regional finals Tuesday night.

The Cardinals (36-4) will play No. 12 Southern Cal on Nov. 12 at 1 p.m. at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids.

The Cardinals last participated in the state tourney in 2006, and they had to fight to earn their 13th trip to Cedar Rapids in the past 17 years.

“What a great match,” Treynor coach Janet Fiene said. “Stanton did a wonderful job defending our offense. “I'm proud of the girls, and I'm proud of the way they fought back and got the victory.”

Early signs pointed to a one-sided match. Treynor scored the first five points in the first set and used three separate three-points runs before closing the set on a 6-0 run for a 25-10 final.

But Stanton showed its poise the rest of the way. The Viqueens fought their way to a 14-14 tie midway through the second set before surrendering four straight Treynor points. The Cardinals built a 24-17 advantage only to allow three straight points to Stanton junior Kadie Subbert that brought the Viqueens within four at 24-20, but they would get no closer.

Stanton got its offense going in the third set. After Treynor's Tayler Geer converted on a kill to give the Cardinals an early 9-7 lead, the Viqueens scored eight of the next nine points to go up 15-10. Subbert had three kills and a block in that span.

Treynor rallied to even the match at 19, but Stanton responded with a 5-1 run to take a 24-20 lead. Two Geer kills and two Stanton errors evened the game at 24 before two Treynor hitting errors gave Stanton a 26-24 third-set victory.

“We had nothing to lose going into the match,” Stanton coach Jessica Browning said. “I'm proud of how we fought back. (We) wanted it tonight.”

After losing an early lead, Stanton found itself down 24-21 late in the fourth set. It used a Kara Allen block and two Subbert kills to even the score at 24, but the Cardinals took three of the next four points to seal the match.

Having dealt with an injury-plagued 2008 season, Fiene and her squad see the state berth as extra special.

“We have such a good, core group of leaders out there,” said Fiene, citing Geer, Kaitlin Floerchinger, Morgan Jacobsen and Nichole Easton. “They just surround our younger kids and do a really good job of lifting them up. We're pretty lucky with the group of leaders we have.”

Geer said qualifying for the state tournament is a perfect way to end her prep volleyball career. She hasn't been to state since the 2006 season as a freshman.

“We've worked extremely hard at this. It's been our goal from the beginning of the year,” said Geer, who finished with 21 kills. “It was just awesome to see everyone work at it. We all wanted this.”

With only four losses this season — two at the hands of Class 4-A No. 7 Abraham Lincoln — Treynor has experience against some of the better competition in the state. Fiene said those tests will help her team next week in Cedar Rapids.

“Our opponents are always going to score points, but one thing we focus on in practice is fighting for every ball,” Fiene said. “We've got to be able to handle things when our opponents do score, but we've also got to push for every point on our side of the floor.”

Stanton (23-5).................10 20 26 25

Treynor (36-4)................25 25 24 27

Treynor leaders: Blocks: Abby Gordon 4, Emma Fiene 3. Kills: Geer 21. Set assists: Klahn 30. Aces: Geer 4, Fiene 3.