GRAND FORKS, ND (NewsDakota.com) – The Hi-Liners took an offensive step forward, but could not turn the tight set corner Thursday night.

Valley City dropped a 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-18) matchup with  Grand Forks Red River in Eastern Dakota Conference (EDC) volleyball Thursday night.

Despite overcoming an early deficit to tie late in the first, and leading for most of the second, the Hi-Liners struggled with passing and defending a Red River tip game that found the middle at key times in the first two sets.  The Roughriders ran out to a seven-point lead, and never allowed the lead to fall below three before closing out the match.

Positives were found at the pins for Valley City, something head coach Rebekah Erickson was looking for.

“We need our outsides to pick it up offensively.  We’re not where we were at the end of last year, and it’s going to take some time to put it all together in a match,” Erickson explained before the match Thursday night.

The Hi-Liners responded to Erickson’s request.  Samantha Hatcher led the way with six kills (unofficial), with Jovi Borg adding five.  Tesa Olson and Ava Huesby notched key plays on the right side to balance the offense, and Faith Peterson found success on the right also, sliding away from the middle to give Valley City options.

While the outsides found solid nights, Addy Kvilvang produced with some key blocking in the middle to limit Red River’s production.

Back-row consistency was an issue for the Hi-Liners throughout the night.  Serve receive against an aggressive Red River service game led to struggles to run offense.  The Roughriders used their pins to force Valley City’s defense away from the middle, and Red River’s tipping game became lethal.

Valley City drops to 2-4 in EDC play, 3-10 overall.  Their next action will be in the Optimist Tournament in Valley City Saturday.