Photo by Cameron Carlson
DEVILS LAKE — When Devils Lake dropped a 29-27 fourth set, it brought the Firebirds back to an all-too-familiar place.
A fifth set.
They entered Tuesday’s match against Rugby having dropped five straight matches, all in region play. Three of the last four were five-set losses.
Entering another tiebreaker at the Devils Lake Sports Center, head coach Bridget Hanlan’s message to her team was simple.
“It was finally to play to win, and not play to not lose,” Hanlan said. “To finally just keep being aggressive on offense.”
The Firebirds dropped a pair of extremely tight sets, 25-23 and 29-27. They won two dominant sets, 25-8 and 25-10. But each set counted the same in the win column. Devils Lake had to take care of business in the fifth set to come away with a victory.
And the Firebirds did. They won 15-10 in the final set to end a five-match losing streak. They improved to 10-7 overall, while Rugby fell to 5-10.
“We’ve moved some things around on offense, so we have different players taking different swings in different spots,” Hanlan said. “And tonight, it really came together. And so we’re just gonna keep using all of our hitters on offense.”
This was Devils Lake’s second time playing Rugby, a non-region opponent. It beat the Panthers 3-1 on Sept. 9 — its last win before the losing streak started.
“They’re a tough team,” Hanlan said. “They’re well-coached, and they’re aggressive. So we knew what to do, and we just needed to be the more aggressive team to pull out the win.”
Errors plagued Devils Lake in a sloppy first-set loss. The Firebirds made 11 errors unofficially, and dropped it 25-23. Rugby never led by more than three points, and Devils Lake fought off a set point. But the Firebirds were playing on their heels.
In the second and third set, they looked like a different team.
They bounced back to win the second set 25-8, with two separate 7-0 runs. Kinley Johnson had six kills and two aces in the set, unofficially.
In the third set, Riley Remmick smacked four consecutive aces to get Devils Lake off to a 5-0 start. Rugby fought off two set points, but the Firebirds still put away another lopsided set, 25-10.
They weren’t just winning; they were dominating.
“Our offense really got going in those two sets,” Hanlan said. “And we stayed consistent. We didn’t let them go on any big runs.”
Despite winning so authoritatively in the second and third set, the fourth set got away from Devils Lake.
The Firebirds fought back from a 5-1 deficit to take an 11-10 lead. But Rugby won seven out of eight points to go up 18-13. Devils Lake took a timeout and punched back again. Sara Kraft played a strong game in the middle, while Johnson, Emma Hofstad and Chassidy Rodacker also made some strong hits.
The Firebirds tied it at 23-23. They fought off three set points, and Hofstad put them ahead 27-26 with a kill, despite a desperate running dig from Rugby.
Devils Lake made a net violation on its lone match point of the set. Rugby finished off the 29-27 win with an error and an ace, leaving the Firebirds to have to contend with another fifth set.
“Our errors let Rugby get back in it,” Hanlan said.
The Firebirds got off to just the start they wanted in the fifth set, with a Remmick ace. An error tied it, but Hofstad and Remmick made back-to-back kills to give Devils Lake a lead it would never relinquish.
Up 6-3, Devils Lake ran away with five straight points. April Miller got involved up front to help out Johnson.
With the Firebirds leading 14-5, Rugby fought off five consecutive match points. Its traveling student section got into it. But Devils Lake refused to let such a massive lead get away, as Hofstad finally swatted one away to end it.
“We won on a kill. That’s what you have to do,” Hanlan said. “We can’t be playing the tipping game.”
Johnson and Hofstad led the Firebirds with 18 and 17 kills, respectively.
Devils Lake travels for tournaments on Oct. 3, 4 and 11. It also hosts a non-region match against Nedrose on Oct. 6. With the ups and downs this team has experienced lately, Hanlan has a handy checklist of areas to focus on.
“Consistency with our new positions,” she said. “Trusting our block, and then just making sure our serve-receive stays strong so that we can use our offense.”
