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Consolation matches at state tournaments can have the reputation for not being as intense or competitive with both teams already eliminated from championship contention.

Not so in the first match at the Class A State Volleyball Tournament Friday in the MSU Dome.

Williston needed to go the distance to topple a scrappy Devils Lake club 3-2 (26-24, 22-25, 25-20, 24-26, 15-13). In total, the Coyotes outscored the Firebirds 112-108 over the course of the match.

Early on, Williston head coach Rebecca Waitman said Devils Lake's energetic play was the difference.

"Devils Lake played a great game," Waitman said. "They were scrappy they got everything up. We had some hard-driven balls and they got them up, they never let anything go. Our girls got a little lazy and gave up on balls."

After taking a close first game 26-24, Williston saw the Firebirds fire back to take game 2.

Waitman said the play of senior Taylor Owan got the Coyotes motivated. Owan finished with nine kills and 13 digs.

"Taylor Owan played a heck of a match," Waitman said. "She hit around the blocks, she kept us fired up and kept us going. She did a good job."

Williston won game 3 by a 25-20 count before DL took the fourth game 26-24.

Maren Rygh had an outstanding match for the Firebirds. She had 15 kills, three aces, five blocks and 10 digs. Kasi Eisenzimmer had 49 assists for DL.

Williston's offense was led by Ashley Slade's 14 kills and 13 more for Danielle Clark. Jaden Lynch had 42 assists and 16 digs and Slade led the team with 20 digs.

Waitman said defense and passing helped the Coyotes take the last game 15-13.

"We knew we had to get our defense going and get a good pass in order for Jaden (Lynch) to get the middles the ball," she said. "We had so many 1-on-1 (opportunities) in the middle that our middles could dominate but it was a matter of getting it to them. That's where we wanted to get it, but we had to go to the outside because of our passes."

Demons turn it around

It was now or never for the Bismarck High volleyball team.

After being swept in Thursday's first round of the State Class A Volleyball Tournament, BHS found itself in a 1-0 hole Friday against Dickinson.

The Demons chose now.

Bismarck knotted the match at 1-1 and played its best volleyball of the tournament in the final two games to top Dickinson 3-2 (19-25, 25-21, 20-25, 25-12, 15-8).

After dropping the first game, the Demons gave themselves an ultimatum.

"We pretty much just said now is your time to step it up," BHS head coach Jessica Andersen said. "You don't have another choice. You get back on that court, you work as hard as you can and you get it done."

Just as it seemed like the Demons had grabbed some momentum, Dickinson bounced back itself, winning game 3 25-20.

"It's really hard to not play as well as you can one day and turn it around in 24 hours and step on the court and play well the next day," Andersen said. "It started out shaky, but I think they finally got that trust in each other back on the court and they went from there."

The Demons looked like the team that won the West Region regular season title in the final two games.

"The big difference was having fun, we enjoyed the game and enjoyed the people around us," Andersen said.

The Demons had a well-rounded offensive attack.

Annie Assel had 15 kills and both Josette Glatt (13) and Anna Hruby (10) finished in double figures. KaSara Rudolph had 42 assists for BHS, which was also strong on the serve.

Hruby had five of the Demons' 12 aces.

Jess Herauf led the Midgets with 15 kills, four aces and 22 digs.

Williston 3, Devils Lake 2

DL 24 25 20 26 13

Williston 26 22 25 24 15

DL - Kills: Maren Rygh 15, Steph Mertens 13, Ashley Sebelius 19, Kenzie Wade 8, Taylor Wade 7, Kasi Eisenzimmer 2, Autumn Wang 1; Assists: Eisenzimmer 49; Aces: Wang 3, Rygh 3, Mertens 2, Eisenzimmer 1; Blocks: Rygh 5, T. Wade 3; Digs: K. Wade 11, Rygh 10, Mertens 9, Sebelius 8, Wang 5, Eisenzimmer 4.

Williston - Kills: Ashley Slade 14, Danielle Clarke 13, Laclyn Lee 9, Taylor Owan 9, Laura Maleckar 6, Jaden Lynch 3; Assists: Lynch 42, Lee 5; Aces: Slade 3, Kourtney Sundby 3, Owan 1, Clarke 1, Lynch 1; Digs: Slade 20, Lynch 16, Owan 13, Clarke 8, Cassandra Thomas 8, Maleckar 6.

Bismarck High 3, Dickinson 2

Dickinson 25 21 25 12 8

Bismarck 19 25 20 25 15

Dickinson - Kills: Jess Herauf 15, Madison Deibert 7, Leslie Beaudoin 5, Katie Hewson 5, Justine Braunagel 2; Assists: Kara Froelich 28; Aces: Herauf 4, Molly Miller 3, Ashley Jahner 3, Braunagel 1; Blocks: Hewson 1; Digs: Herauf 22, Braunagel 18, Deibert 15, Kinzel 10, Froelich 6.

Bismarck - Kills: Annie Assel 15, Josette Glatt 13, Anna Hruby 10, Twila Moser 9, KaSara Rudolph 4, Katie Weigel 3; Assists: Rudolph 42; Aces: Hruby 5, Emmilee Vetter 2, Rudolph 2, Eden Schmidt 2, Assel 2; Blocks: Hruby 2, Moser 1, Assel 1, Glatt 1, Weigel 1; Digs: Vetter 33, Assel 17, Rudolph 15, Schmidt 13, Hruby 9.