Photo by Cameron Carlson
DEVILS LAKE — The Firebirds are in the win column in Region 2 play.
Although Devils Lake has had a winning season in the first year of the three-class era in volleyball, it was yet to win a region match before Monday night.
The Firebirds (15-12-1, 1-6) brushed away that streak with a 3-0 win over Hillsboro/Central Valley (6-16, 1-8) at the Devils Lake Sports Center. They pulled out a trio of close sets: 25-22, 25-23 and 25-19.
“We put three sets together,” Devils Lake head coach Bridget Hanlan said. “We got down a few times, and we didn’t let that bother us. We came right back and played our game, and we just battled through in three.”
Devils Lake had previously lost to H/CV in five sets on the road. In fact, three of its five region losses have been five-setters.
“They have a left-handed middle. They’re aggressive servers,” Hanlan said of the Burros. “They still got us with their serving. But yeah, we learned from our mistakes, and we’re covering our corners better on defense. And it’s paying off.”
The Firebirds had to battle from behind in all three sets. They didn’t click right away. But they spread the offense evenly throughout the night; Emma Hofstad had eight kills, while Kinley Johnson and Mia Elsperger each had seven.
Riley Remmick and Brynlee Wolf had 15 and 13 assists, respectively.
“Everybody was contributing,” Hanlan said. “Everybody on the floor, everybody on the bench. And that’s what we need every night.”
Devils Lake trailed 4-0 out of the gates. A 5-0 run gave the Firebirds their first lead. Tied at 15-15, they won three in a row and held on for a 25-22 win.
The second set was a bit of an oddity. But the Firebirds came out on the right side of it to take a 2-0 match lead.
H/CV had runs of 6-0 and 7-0. Yet Devils Lake never trailed by more than five points, and it managed to tie the set at 18-18.
The Burros went back ahead with three straight kills. They led 22-19 at one point.
But Devils Lake, down 23-21, won four straight to close it out and win the set. Sara Kraft had the final two kills. The Devils Lake bench grew louder with each point won.
After it looked like the Burros might even the match just moments earlier, the Firebirds had control.
“Hillsboro is a good, aggressive team,” Hanlan said. “And to be able to come back and not get down on ourselves and just keep moving forward is huge for us.”
Devils Lake led 12-10 as it looked to close out the sweep. The Burros still had another run in them: a 6-0 stretch to put them ahead.
Down 17-13, Devils Lake won seven points in a row. Chassidy Rodacker came up with a couple kills, while the Burros started to look out of sync.
The Firebirds took the final five points of the match to wrap things up stress-free.
“It’s nice to know they can do it in three,” Hanlan said. “They can compete. And we’ve just got to keep moving forward.”
Devils Lake travels to play No. 1 Thompson (19-3, 6-1) next Tuesday. The next home match is Oct. 30 against No. 3 Carrington (24-4, 7-0).
Altogether, Devils Lake has four region matches left (worth a total of five points in the standings).
“We’ve got to clean up a little bit; not let those big 7-0 runs on us,” Hanlan said. “And serve-receive, clean up a little bit. But we’re learning, and we’re making improvements. And that’s the way we want to go.”
