Claire Heilman (14), Torri Fee (1)/Photo by Noah Clooten
DEVILS LAKE — The Firebirds keep coming so close.
Despite surpassing 20 points in two different sets, Devils Lake (1-8, 0-4) fell just short against Fargo Davies (6-4, 4-0) at the Devils Lake Sports Center on Tuesday evening. They were right in there in the first and last sets. But in the end, it was another loss to an EDC opponent.
“We’re continuing to work on pushing against these teams,” Devils Lake head coach Megan Sylling said. “We just need to come up over that threshold. The girls are playing aggressive. Some mental errors.”
Set 1: Davies 25, Devils Lake 21 (1-0 Eagles)
The first set had a similar storyline as two of the three sets in the Firebirds’ home opener, which they lost 27-25 and 25-22. They made a valiant effort to keep it close, and weren’t beaten by a particularly large margin. But their opponent just found ways to hold strong and win the critical points at the end.
Davies controlled the early points, taking a 7-2 lead. Devils Lake got back on the board after a near-kill by Claire Heilman, finished off with a block by Kinley Johnson. The Firebirds narrowed the score to 8-5 after back-to-back Davies errors.
Sara Kraft came up with a kill, and the Firebirds were slowly crawling back into it. The Eagles bailed Devils Lake out with some errors, as the Firebirds won three straight points to trim the deficit to 15-12.
Kills by Heilman and Emma Hofstad kept Devils Lake chugging forward. Down 18-16, Heilman and Torri Fee each had a diving dig to miraculously keep the point alive, and Davies eventually made an error to get Devils Lake within one point.
The energy on the Devils Lake side was high. The set was neck-and-neck, despite the Firebirds having to come from behind.
“We’re working on that mental game and continuing to find ways to push through the adversity,” Sylling said. “It’s still early in the season, and they are going to continue to find ways to stay aggressive against these really good teams.”
But they couldn’t contain their newfound momentum. Some sloppy points helped Davies take four in a row and regain a more sizable gap. Devils Lake won a battle at the net after a service error, making it 23-20, but the Eagles wrapped up the set by taking two of the final three points.
Set 2: Davies 25, Devils Lake 13 (2-0 Eagles)
The middle set began just like the first one did for Devils Lake: falling into a quick hole. This time, it was 8-3.
The Firebirds couldn’t make up the ground the way they nearly did in the first set, though. Fee continued to control and set up points for Devils Lake, and Hofstad, Heilman and Johnson all came up with impressive kills at various points. Davies still outpaced them overall.
The Firebirds had a three-point stretch to cut their deficit to 22-13, but the Eagles responded with three of their own to take the set in fairly commanding fashion.
Set 3: Davies 25, Devils Lake 23 (3-0 Eagles)
The Firebirds went right back to playing even with the Eagles in the third set.
After falling behind 2-0, they won the next five points to take their biggest lead of the night. The Eagles clawed back to tie it at 7-7, and the teams traded points all the way to 13-13.
“They know there’s nothing to lose,” Sylling said. “They want to be proud of what they’re leaving on the court. And that second set, we weren’t proud of how we came out. We were really tight instead of having fun and being an aggressive team. And so that third set, we were really working on those block transitions, staying aggressive on the hitting and then the serving as well.”
The Eagles seemed to be on the verge of flying away with it again after winning the next three. So with the Firebirds down 16-13, they took a timeout.
And they immediately came back more calm and collected. A Hofstad kill made it 18-17, and a Heilman ace — where she found the perfect spot deep in the court — tied it back up.
Hofstad, a freshman, led the team in kills with six, while Heilman had four. The ace was one of two on the night for Heilman.
A Davies error put Devils Lake ahead 21-20 — its first lead since 12-11. Then the Firebirds caught the Eagles flat-footed to go up 22-21.
Devils Lake lost the next two points and took a timeout. After the break, Johnson smacked a kill to tie it at 23-23.
“Kinley is working very hard,” Sylling said of Johnson, who was second on the team in kills with five. “She has a lot that she wants to accomplish this season. She’s getting very aggressive with her serves, and then she’s also staying really aggressive with her blocking. We’re just continuing to get her set up, and she did a great job tonight.”
Alas, Davies won the final two points and completed the 3-0 sweep.
“We just have to keep pushing,” Sylling said. “We just gotta get over that mental hump.”
Devils Lake travels to play No. 3 West Fargo Sheyenne (9-0, 2-0) on the road Thursday at 7 p.m.
