VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – It was a literal must win match this evening at the Hi-Liner Activity Center as the Devils Lake Firebirds and Valley City Hi-Liners were playing a Play-In match to advance to the EDC tournament next week. The Hi-Liners made quick work this evening as they sweep the Firebirds in three sets to advance. The scores were 25-12, 25-7, and 25-23.

In the first set of the night the Hi-Liners trailed early but that wouldn’t last too long. Valley City came roaring back to win the set. Samantha Hatcher provided excellent serves for her team that the Firebirds just couldn’t send back to the Valley City side. Peyton Pederson also helping the Hi-Liners win this set by having a presence in the front court and not allowing Devils Lake to get any easy points in front of the net. The Hi-Liners take the first set 25-12.

The second set of the night saw Valley City just completely dominate from start to finish. Well, I should say the Firebirds had the early 1-0 lead, but in the end that was all forgotten about as the Hi-Liners made quick work of this set. Abby Thornton, kept Devils Lake off balance in this set with her excellent serves that would fall in, just in front of the diving attempts by some of the Firebirds. Valley City takes the second set 25-7.

The Third set of the night was the most interesting and competitive set on the evening. Hi-Liners quickly jumped out to a 4-0 lead, only to see it evaporate and find themselves tied up at 4-4. Devils Lake did an excellent job in this set to not going away quietly. Valley City would again take a sizeable lead when they made it a 21-16 game. Once again, the Hi-Liners would let that lead slip away and find themselves tied at 21-21. Valley City Head Coach Rebekah DePesa would call a time out to reset her teams focus. It would help as the Hi-Liners escape the third and final set, 25-23 to take the match and advance to the EDC tournament.

With the win, the Hi-Liners will travel back to West Fargo to take on the Packers on Tuesday at 6PM. Valley City has faced the Packers twice already this season, being swept both times, the most recent was last Tuesday night. With this being a double elimination tournament, the Hi-Liners will then go to Grand Forks Red River to continue the tournament on Thursday, regardless of the results from Tuesday. The match on Tuesday night can be heard on KOVC.