West Fargo Horace at Fargo North

Recap

The Fargo North Spartans welcomed the West Fargo Horace Hawks in an EDC volleyball thriller Thursday night. Both teams battled for just over two hours, with the top-ranked Spartans pulling off the ultimate comeback, rallying from two sets down to claim a 3-2 (22-25, 20-25, 25-19, 25-21, 15-10) victory.

Set 1: It was a back-and forth first set. The Spartans looked like they were going to pull ahead with a 13-8 lead, but the Hawks rallied, outscoring the Spartans 17-9 to take the first set.

Set 2: Horace surged ahead in the middle of the set, leading by as much as seven points. The Spartans kept it close with a couple of mini-rallies, but it wasn’t enough as the Hawks went up 2-0.

Set 3: After an even exchange of points early, the Spartans once again led 13-8, only this time, they were able to finish off the set, outscoring the Hawks 12-11 the rest of the way to force a fourth set.

Set 4: In a mirror image of the second set, the Spartans surged ahead in the middle, leading by as much as six. The Hawks closed the gap to get within a couple, but it wasn’t enough as the Spartans forced the fifth set.

Set: 5: North came out on a 6-1 run and never trailed, as both teams exchanged the final 18 points equally to close out the match.

It was the first five-set victory of the season for Fargo North. The Spartans struggled at the service line early with five errors in the first two sets. Horace conversely tallied ten service errors in the final four sets.

Solei Berg and Kelby Christofferson led the Spartans and Hawks respectively with seventeen kills each. Audrey Rydell and Ali Thykeson also added twelve and ten kills respectively for North with Rydell notching eleven blocks. Jordan Christofferson and Jaiden Haile added fourteen and thirteen kills respectively for Horace.

The Spartans are off the rest of the week before traveling to Wahpeton on Tuesday. The Hawks will be back in Fargo Tuesday as they face Fargo South.