DEVILS LAKE — The 2026 Devils Lake volleyball team is off to a quick start.
The Firebirds (1-0) began the second season of the three-class era with a 3-0 sweep of Bottineau (2-4) in a non-region match at the Devils Lake Sports Center on Tuesday.
It was the first win for Tangella Martinson as head coach.
“I really liked their energy,” Martinson said. “This whole season, they’ve come in with just a positive energy, especially my older girls for these younger girls. They just have come in and been team players.”
Each set got progressively better: 25-16, 25-11 and 25-10.
The Firebirds trailed early in all three sets but eventually found a rhythm.
Martinson thought the team came out “super confident.”
“And when there is adversity, they face it like a champ,” she said. “You wouldn’t know that they’re facing it.”
Devils Lake won eight of the final 10 points of the first set to go up 1-0.
They trailed 9-8 in the second set before going on a 10-0 run with four aces by Kinley Johnson. They opened the third set down 3-0 before winning the next nine points and regaining control.
Johnson, a senior, led Devils Lake with 12 kills. She added 11 digs in an all-around effort.
Junior Emma Hofstad was second with eight kills.
First-year starting libero Elin Skaar had 17 digs, while junior setter Riley Remmick had 11 assists and four aces. She tallied two aces in each of the first two sets. Brynlee Wolf led Devils Lake with 15 assists.
Devils Lake also got four kills and a block from junior hitter Kaylee Whalen. Senior middle blocker Sara Kraft did her job up front with five blocks and three kills.
“We have quality hitters all the way around the board,” Martinson said. “And our setters do a really good job at mixing it up.”
Bottineau was led by Kaitlin Moen’s 14 digs but didn’t have any player collect more than three kills.
The volleyball match preceded the annual homecoming coronation, where Easton Encinas and Tylie Brodina were crowned king and queen, respectively. Encinas plays football and wrestles for the Firebirds while Brodina plays basketball and golf. With homecoming falling relatively early in the year, the coronation commenced in the volleyball team’s season opener.
Devils Lake travels to Belcourt to face Turtle Mountain Thursday, Sept. 3 before hosting Rugby on Tuesday.