The Valley City Hi-Liners fell to the Fargo South Bruins in four sets on Tuesday as their hopes to host a play-in game have taken a significant hit.

The first and second sets for Valley City were marred by slow starts that allowed the visiting Bruins to play out in front with a lead for the early goings. The Hi-Liners in both sets would mount a charge that would get them within striking distance only to watch as a lengthy Bruins run put the set away with the first ending 25-17 and the second ending 25-14.

The third set would again see Valley City get out to a slow start as they came out of a pivotal timeout trailing 12-5 . After the break, the Hi-Liners would rally to even up the set and take a late lead before Jovi Borg iced things with a set-winning kill to take the third 25-21.

The fourth set would be a high-octane contest between the two sides as the Hi-Liners seized the early momentum with Fargo South calling a timeout midway through the fourth. But after the timeout, the Bruins would regroup defensively shutting down the Hi-Liner attack, and grinded out a come-from-behind 25-20 fourth-set win to take the match.

The next game for Valley City will be October 26th in Grand Forks against the Red River Roughriders.