Photo by Noah Clooten
The regular season for Devils Lake volleyball came to an end Thursday night. The Firebirds fell 3-0 to West Fargo Sheyenne, a team that’s only lost three matches all year. It finalized Devils Lake (6-22, 1-16) as the No. 11 seed out of 12 teams in the Eastern Dakota Conference.
Thursday was also Senior Night. Seniors Claire Heilman and Jolie Martinson tied for the Firebird lead in kills on the night with four.
As a reminder, this was the final season of the three-class system in North Dakota high school volleyball. Like basketball already did, the sport will transition to three classes next year, with Devils Lake landing in the middle division.
Here are the final EDC standings from 2024, plus the playoff pairings and the region tournament schedule. Devils Lake is one of eight teams in the EDC that has to win a play-in game in order to get to the quarterfinals. Four teams from the region will represent North Dakota at the state tournament, along with four from the Western Dakota Association.
1. Shanley
2. Fargo Davies
3. West Fargo Sheyenne
4. West Fargo Horace
5. West Fargo
6. Grand Forks Red River
7. Valley City
8. Fargo North
9. Fargo South
10. Grand Forks Central
11. Devils Lake
12. Wahpeton
Play-in games (all on Nov. 9 at higher seeds)
6 p.m. Game 1: #8 Fargo North vs. #9 Fargo South
1 p.m. Game 2: #5 West Fargo vs. #12 Wahpeton
1 p.m. Game 3: #7 Valley City vs. #10 Grand Forks Central
6 p.m. Game 4: #6 Grand Forks Red River vs. #11 Devils Lake
EDC quarterfinals (all on Nov. 12 at higher seeds)
TBA Game 5: #1 Shanley vs. Game 1 winner
6 p.m. Game 6: #4 West Fargo Horace vs. Game 2 winner
6 p.m. Game 7: #2 Fargo Davies vs. Game 3 winner
6 p.m. Game 8: #3 West Fargo Sheyenne vs. Game 4 winner
EDC consolation semifinals (all on Nov. 14 at higher seeds, times TBA)
Game 9: Game 5 loser vs. Game 6 loser
Game 10: Game 7 loser vs. Game 8 loser
EDC semifinals (all on Nov. 14 at higher seeds, times TBA)
Game 11: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner
Game 12: Game 7 winner winner vs. Game 8 winner
State qualifiers (all on Nov. 16 at West Fargo Sheyenne High School)
11 a.m. Game 13: Game 9 winner vs. Game 11 loser
(25 min. later) Game 14: Game 10 winner vs. Game 12 loser
EDC championship (Nov. 16 at West Fargo Sheyenne High School)
3 p.m. Game 15: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner
The winners of the two state qualifier games and both participants of the championship game will earn bids to the state tournament.
