MARSHALL, Minn. -- Lakeville North won all five of its matches by 2-0 scores and swept its way to the championship of the Molten Southwest Minnesota Challenge.

The second-ranked Panthers claimed a win of Kasson-Mantorville, ranked fourth in class AA, and wins over class AAA #6 East Ridge and #3 Champlin Park along the way.

The tournament title was the sixth in the 12-year history of the Southwest Minnesota Challenge and first for the Panthers since 2012, who won the title five times in its first seven years.

Sporting 9-0 record, North returns to action, Tuesday, with its South Suburban Conference opener versus Burnsville, which is slated to get underway at 7 p.m. at North High School.

Amanda Burger opened the match with a pair of service aces but Russell-Tyler-Ruthton responded with a 6-0 run before North got its game going.

From that point, the Panthers proceed to outscore the Knights, 48-20 to take the 2-0 win.

RTR would eventually take its lead to six points at 13-7 before North began chipping away, taking over serve at 15-11 following an Elizabeth Juhnke kill.

Behind Juhnke's service game, the Panthers would score seven consecutive points to take a 17-15 lead, scored five consecutive points with Tori Thompson serving and, after Arianna Barrett's kill made it 23-17 and put her at the service line, Macy Winter finished the opening set with back-to-back kills.

After scoring the first two points of the second set, North would not trail but separated itself from the Knights with an 8-0 run on Halle Wolfe's serve.

Burger had 22 assists to go along with three service aces and a pair of digs to lead the Panthers.

Brady and Juhnke led the team up front with eight kills each while Wolfe led the team with nine digs and 12 service receptions without an error.

North cruised to an easy opening-set win but had to battle harder early in the second set before moving onto the tournament quarterfinals with a 2-0 win over Kasson-Mantorville.

The Panthers never trailed in the opening set, recording 18 kills and just one hitting error for a .459 percentage, while also record seven total blocks.

In the second set, North needed a five-point run on Macy Winter's serve to overcome a 5-4 deficit and take the lead for good.

Elizabeth Juhnke had 20 kills and hit a sizzling .545 to lead North while Kennedy Brady, for the second consecutive match, was errorless in her hitting, recording seven kills an a .636 percentage.

Brady, Arianna Barrett and Tori Thompson all record four total blocks while Halle Wolfe had eights digs. Amelia Wherland had 13 assists and Amanda Burger recorded 12.

Just nine days after going five sets in a win over the Raptors, Lakeville North took down sixth-ranked East Ridge in straight sets in the quarterfinals.

In both sets the Panthers trailed early before charging to the lead.

The opening set saw North give up the first point, and the teams battled to a 4-4 tie before went on a 9-2 run to leave the Raptors behind.

Arianna Barrett played a key role in putting the set away late as East Ridge closed to within three points, at 18-15 when Barrett set Elizabeth Juhnke for a kill to stop the rally and then, on set point, Barrett recorded her third kill of the set opening stanza.

The Raptors held the lead in the second set set through the first 11 points but the Panthers patiently worked their way into the lead at 8-7 on a kill by Juhnke and, two points later, took the lead for good when Kennedy Brady snapped an 8-8 tied with back-to-back kills.

For the third consecutive match, Brady did not have a hitting error, recording six kills and a .545 hitting percentage. Juhnke's 10 kills led both teams and Tori Thompson had four total blocks.

North's defense got plenty of contributions as Halle Wolfe led the team with eight kills while Barrett, Juhnke and Amanda Burger all had seven.

Burger also had 11 assists while Amelia Wherland set 14 kills, to go along with two kills and a block assist.

Last year, North got its first big win of the season when it upset second-ranked Champlin Park in the quarterfinals of the Molten Southwest Minnesota Challenge.

This year, it was the Panthers coming into the tournament ranked second with the Rebels ranked third as the teams met in the semifinals.

In a match settled by the defense, North got a strong performance from its back row and 10 totals blocks in two sets to advance to the championship.

The teams traded the lead four times and were tied on seven occasions in the opening set but, from a 10-10 tie until a 21-21 tie, the Rebels held the lead.

Amanda Burger's tip kill brought the Panthers back to within two points of the lead, at 21-19 and Arianna Barrett served them to set point at 24-21.

Champlin Park staved off a set point but Macy Winter's kill ended the Rebels' chance of mounting a comeback.

Champlin Park scored first in the second set and would eventually hold a five-point lead at 8-3.

The lead finally changed hands for the only time in the set when a kill by Tori Thompson put the Panthers ahead, 11-10.

The teams would trade the next six point before North took the lead for good, scoring three consecutive points after a 13-13 tie, two of which came on blocks, with Brady coming with Barrett for one to snap the tie and with Winter for a 16-13 lead.

The Panthers finished the match on a 12-4 run with Thompson record kills for points 23 and 24 before she served out the match, which ended with a kill by Brady.

Up front, Winter and Juhnke both had eight kills while Brady had six total blocks with Thompson recording four and Winter three.

All eight Panthers who saw action recorded digs in the match, with Halle Wolfe leading the way with 14 while Juhnke and Burger each had six.

North's serve receive was nearly flawless with its only error coming via a rotation violation.

The championship match featured defending tournament champion Lakeville South and crosstown rival Lakeville South, which it defeated in the semifinals of last year's tournament.

In the 2017 championship, Elizabeth Juhnke put on a dominating performance with 14 kills and a .448 hitting percentage and the Panthers sided out on 71 percent of the Cougars' serve to claim the title.

The opening set was tightly contested as the score was tied 10 times and the lead changed hands three times before a strong finish by North put the opening set away.

Trailing 18-16, Juhnke recorded a kill to give the Panthers service trailing by one. She then record a kill to tie the scored and Amanda Burger served out the set as North finished with a 9-0 run, getting three of its final five points on kills by Arianna Barrett.

The second set saw South take a 2-0 lead before the Panthers scored four consecutive points on Halle Wolfe's serve.

North scored four more points when Wolfe came to the service line again, snapping a 10-10 tie and leading to a match-ending 15-2 run for the Panthers.

Juhnke's performance not only featured outstanding hitting numbers, she  added five kills, two block assist, received six serves without an error and also had a service ace.

The Panthers' serve receive was again nearly flawless with North recording only one ace when an Alena Moldan serve hit the tape and rolled over the net.

North's defense limited South to a .091 hitting percentage with Juhnke and Kennedy Brady recording a pair of blocks while Wolfe's nine digs and 13 errorless serve receptions led the Panthers' back row.