Photo via Megan Sylling Facebook

Photo via Megan Sylling Facebook

<p>Torri Fee, Megan Sylling/Photo via Megan Sylling Facebook</p>

Torri Fee, Megan Sylling/Photo via Megan Sylling Facebook

<p>Photo by Noah Clooten</p>

Photo by Noah Clooten

<p>Photo by Noah Clooten</p>

Photo by Noah Clooten

It’s hard to have a much better week than Torri Fee just did.

Devils Lake’s homecoming queen — crowned after Thursday’s volleyball match — reached a major milestone in her volleyball career two days earlier in Fargo. The senior libero collected her 1,000th career dig. Fee has been the rock of this Devils Lake team, providing an invaluable presence in the back row.

“It just shows that hard work pays off,” Fee said. “And I couldn’t have done that without my teammates. They helped me through everything.”

Fee has long since been a standout athlete in Devils Lake, and somebody who strives for excellence. She only stands at about 5-foot-4, but her work ethic has been there since she was in middle school, as her volleyball coach Megan Sylling recalled.

“Torri is somebody who has always wanted to be the best athlete,” Sylling said. “And it’s not just volleyball; it’s every single aspect of her life.”

Growing up, it was all about basketball. Devils Lake has a high standard of excellence in basketball, a process that’s led to producing Alabama star Grant Nelson and state championships for both the boys’ and girls’ teams in early 2024.

But as middle-school Fee focused on basketball, her new volleyball coach, Sylling, found that she took up volleyball pretty quickly, too.

“I remember walking into the gym, as a seventh-grader when I was coaching junior high, and these girls were very basketball-oriented,” Sylling said. “We have a fantastic basketball program. And Torri learned to dig and found a knack for it, and wanted to be a libero and then continued to push.”

Fee didn’t necessarily expect to stick with both basketball and volleyball. But her progression extended into her freshman year, when she played setter. Then she transitioned to libero her sophomore year, a position more natural for her, and she stepped up and ran with it.

“I honestly thought I was just gonna be a basketball person,” she said. “I started volleyball, and I really started enjoying it… I liked being a libero, being a digging person and passing… My defense was way better, and I liked it way more.”

Fast forward a couple of years, and she’s a seasoned veteran in volleyball, a core player the team wouldn’t be the same without. That’s in addition to starting on the state champion basketball team as a junior.

Fee credited Jadyn Frelich, a former basketball and volleyball teammate who graduated in 2024, as a guiding force who’s helped her through the years. She also acknowledged her coaches, and stressed the importance of Sylling, who’s been there for her since seventh grade.

“She’s just been really positive,” Fee said of Sylling. “She’s been really helpful. She’s been always, ‘You need to be a leader,’ and that’s a good thing because it’s pushing me to excel.”

On the court, Fee’s dives and extensions keep countless points alive that otherwise would have ended. When the team wins a point, she’s often the first person to cheer. When the team loses a point, she’s often the first person to pump her teammates back up.

And this is in spite of the fact that it hasn’t always been easy in volleyball. From a team record standpoint, success hasn’t come in droves the way it did for the basketball team last winter. After losing a hard-fought battle to Fargo North last Thursday, the Firebirds fell to 1-11 overall and 0-7 in region matches.

But that doesn’t disrupt Fee’s spirit. And, in turn, because Fee is the leader, it doesn’t discourage her teammates, either. They’ve continued to improve week by week, taking a solid Fargo South team to a fifth set on Tuesday and winning a set over Fargo North as well.

“It’s just really joyful, and it’s showing how our work is really paying off, and that our grind is not gonna stop,” Fee said. “And we’re gonna push every Fargo team, every team that we can.”

With how firmly Fee has established herself as a quality volleyball player, her mark on Devils Lake will be further cemented for years to come. She’ll be able to say that not only was she a state champion basketball player, and a 1,000-dig libero in volleyball, and a homecoming queen, but a person who worked hard to reach her achievements and supported her teammates through it all.

“Torri is an athlete that I am absolutely honored that I’m gonna say that I coached,” Sylling said. “She is somebody who is a leader on and off the court. She pushes herself. She pushes her teammates. She’s the hardest worker in the gym, and she’s always excelling in every aspect of life. She’s somebody who is going to leave a lasting impression on this program, and that our younger girls look up to.”

Now, Fee can soak it up a little bit — even amidst the nonstop chaos of the volleyball season that involves 165-mile drives to Fargo seemingly every other game. And, as her senior year progresses, she’ll get to go out trying to help Devils Lake defend its basketball title.

“I’m still focused on volleyball, but there are thoughts about basketball,” she said, moments after being crowned homecoming queen. “And I’m really excited for basketball season. But I’m just really focusing on volleyball right now.”

Fee and the Firebirds are back in action on Oct. 5 at West Fargo High School.

Might as well add a few to the 1,000-dig total.

“She is somebody who I can’t tell you… She is somebody who is just fantastic,” Sylling said.