VALLEY CITY, N.D. — The Valley City Hi-Liners were pushed to the brink by Oak Grove on Tuesday night, but they survived the test with a five-set victory (25-23, 19-25, 25-14, 22-25, 15-5) to improve to 10-1 on the season.

The Hi-Liners raced out to an 11-3 lead in the opening set behind strong serving from Brynn Lueck and several Grover miscues. Oak Grove’s Alayna Foster-DeVold dominated at the net to help the Grovers chip away, closing to within 24-23 before a misfire on her kill attempt handed Valley City the 25-23 win.

The second set followed a similar script early, with the Hi-Liners taking an 11-7 lead. But Oak Grove took control behind more heavy swings from Foster-DeVold and closed the set with an ace to even the match at 1-1 with a 25-19 win.

Valley City answered in the third, capitalizing on Oak Grove mistakes to build a 17-8 advantage before cruising to a 25-14 win. In the fourth, the Hi-Liners jumped out to a 5-0 lead before Oak Grove rallied to tie it 8-8. The Grovers then used an 11-5 run to take control, holding off a late push from Kadie Kocka to win 25-22 and force a decisive fifth set.

The finale began evenly until a kill by Maddy Frieze sparked a 3-0 Valley City run to make it 5-2. A block from Katie Burchill extended the lead to 8-5, and from there the Hi-Liners never looked back. Strong serving from Skye Nielson, Burchill’s defense and Oak Grove errors fueled a 7-0 closing run as Valley City secured the match with a 15-5 win.

The Hi-Liners (10-1) now have a weeklong break before traveling to Lisbon on Tuesday, Sept. 30, for a matchup with the Broncos. That match will be broadcast on 1490 AM/96.3 FM KOVC and streamed online at NewsDakota.com.