An action shot from a Devils Lake volleyball match in 2024. (Photo by Noah Clooten)
High school volleyball season in North Dakota begins Tuesday.
Volleyball recently followed suit with basketball, splitting from two classifications into three. Here’s a quick breakdown of the realignment and how it affects Devils Lake and the other area teams.
This should benefit the Firebirds greatly. They previously competed in a highly talented EDC that was full of mostly Fargo teams. Not only did it require strenuous travel, but Devils Lake struggled to pull out many wins in recent years.
Now, its region looks completely different.
Like in basketball, Devils Lake will be in Class A, the middle of the three classes. The Firebirds join a Region 2 that also includes Carrington, Grafton, Harvey/Wells County, Hillsboro/Central Valley, May-Port-C-G and Thompson. Among those six opponents, four are also in Devils Lake’s region for basketball. All six were previously in Class B.
The trips will be shorter, and the matches should be more competitive.
All of the Fargo and Grand Forks teams remain in the top division, Class AA.
The new class assignments are based on enrollment for each school. With a couple of exceptions, things mostly stayed the same for teams that were already in Class B.
All of the Class B volleyball teams in the Lake Region — Four Winds/Minnewaukan, North Star, Benson County, Nelson County, New Rockford-Sheyenne and Langdon Area/Munich — competed in the same region last year, as part of a 10-team Region 4.
The new Class B is split into four regions and eight districts. The aforementioned six teams all stayed together as part of Region 2, District 4, which features nine teams. It’s the same teams as last year’s Region 4, aside from Harvey/Wells County, which moved up to Class A, Region 2 alongside Devils Lake. H/WC was the No. 5 seed out of 10 teams in Region 4 last season.
FW/M was also considered a Class A team by enrollment (as it is in basketball), but the NDHSAA approved an opt-down request for FW/M, Dunseith and Standing Rock, per an article by Ryan Spitza of the Forum. Dunseith is one of the other teams in the new District 4. FW/M and Dunseith were the No. 8 and 9 seeds, respectively, in Region 4 last year.
Adding districts brings an extra round to the Class B playoff format. But the competition for the area teams in Class B should be mostly unchanged.
Last year, LA/M dominated Region 4 and ended up winning its fifth state title in program history. The Cardinals are tied with Thompson — a new Class A team — for the most Class B volleyball state titles of any team in North Dakota. LA/M has the most Class B state tournament appearances of any team.
Devils Lake spikes off the first year of the three-class volleyball system on Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Bottineau (now a member of Class A, Region 3). Its home opener is set for Thursday at 7 p.m. against Turtle Mountain (another team in Region 3).
NR-S and Nelson County both start their seasons with home matches on Tuesday in New Rockford and McVille, respectively.
