BISMARCK Valley City senior Kadie Kocka threw down a kill halfway through the second set against Thompson, drawing some cheers from the healthy contingent of Hi-Liners filling the student section at the Bismarck Event Center. Then she did it again. And again. With the fans roaring, Thompson head coach Lisa Strand called a timeout, looking to stem Valley City’s run. Kocka came out of the break and tipped in yet another kill to hand the Hi-Liners a 10-point advantage. Kocka, and Valley City as a whole, couldn’t be stopped in Thursday night’s North Dakota Division A state quarterfinal. Fourth-seeded Valley City swept the fifth-seeded Tommies, winning by scores of 25-11, 25-9 and 25-22. “I’m so proud of them,” Hi-Liners head coach Cynthia Klabo said. “They played really well together as a team, which is the ultimate goal. Play together as a team, have fun they play better when they’re having fun and they’re just being aggressive.” Kocka led the way with 21 kills, eclipsing 1, 000 career kills in the process. “(It was) incredible,” Kocka said. “That’s been a goal for me since the beginning of the season. I kind of knew I was around a certain number, and then I set that goal for me coming into the state tournament, it really feels good.” It was all Valley City from the jump. Thompson fell behind early in both sets and couldn’t seem to find ways past a stout Hi-Liner defense. Attack after attack was stymied by tough digs and blocks. The Tommies showed some fight in the third set, grinding out a 16-15 lead late, but Valley City closed out strong to secure the sweep. “We let them control the pace and the game, and everything was in their hands,” Strand said. “We were just reacting. But in that third set, we were able to be the ones to do the act and to put the ball in play, and when we did that, we found some holes in there in their defense which are very few, but we did find some holes and were able to get a few points off that and our serve was better, our serve receive was better. So just all around we picked up our game.” Thompson will take on eighth-seeded Hazen in the consolation semifinals Friday at 11 a. m. at the Bismarck Event Center. “We’re definitely not done,” Strand said. “We’re ready to try to be the best fifth-place team that we can be, and work for that goal. We were very fortunate to be able to make it to the state tournament with this three-class system, it was afforded to us. “We were able to get here, and we don’t want to just rest. We want more, and the girls want more. And the girls will work for it. They’re a very determined bunch, they’re full of grit, they’re full of determination and I believe that we’ll bounce back and be ready to play again tomorrow.” Valley City has already benefited from the new three-class state tournament system as well. The Hi-Liners remained in Division A this season, while powerhouse programs like Bismarck Century and West Fargo Sheyenne were moved up to Division AA. “It’s so awesome,” Klabo said. “It had to be done. Those schools in Fargo, all over the place, are just so big. Every single match we’ve had this year has been competitive, compared to blowouts here and there. So it’s really nice, I think the state needed it.” Valley City will continue its postseason run against top-seeded South Prairie-Max Friday at 3 p. m. in the semifinals. “We have super talented girls on this team,” Kocka said. “I think just going into this, having the first game win, will bring us more confidence in the next round.”.
https://www.inforum.com/sports/prep/kadie-kocka-eclipses-1-000-career-points-thompson-valley-city