Facing a two-game deficit on senior night at Fargo North, West Fargo head coach Nicole Peterson presented her team with this challenge.

";We told the girls that the third game is the most pivotal game,"; Peterson said. ";We can turn it around, or we can sink.";

Her team responded.

Behind 12 kills and 18 digs from senior Ali Edwards, West Fargo rallied for a 21-25, 15-25, 25-16, 25-23, 15-12 victory in Eastern Dakota Conference volleyball.

The Packers (16-2 EDC points) earned the conference title with the victory and the No. 1 seed for the East Region tournament Nov. 10-12 in Grand Forks, N.D.

The Spartans (12-6 EDC points) will have the No. 5 seed for the region tournament.

";They are a gutsy team,"; North coach Melissa Wilson said of West Fargo. ";They are not going to give up easy. You could see it in their eyes. They started to swing harder; they started to serve more aggressively.";

A North sweep seemed likely midway through Game 3. The Spartans held leads of12-9 and 13-11.

However, that's when the Packers rallied.

West Fargo scored 14 of the last 17 points in Game 3 to earn a 25-16 victory.

Packers senior hitter Angie Young played a key role in that span, finishing off four points: three with kills and one with a block. A Jamie Green ace closed out the game for West Fargo, which scored the last six points of Game 3.

";We just pushed as hard as we could,"; Edwards said. ";We vowed to not let a ball drop.";

After rallying from a late deficit in Game 4 for a 25-23 victory, the Packers again looked in trouble early in Game 5. North built a 9-3 lead behind seniors Jenny Goughnour, who had a match-high 14 kills, and Maggie Olson. Each finished off two points to spark the quick start.

However, North committed one service error and three hitting errors, letting the Packers back into the game.

";When it came down to it, we didn't finish,"; Wilson said. ";We didn't put the ball down when we needed to and we left the door open. We have to learn to finish when we get a lead.";

West Fargo scored 10 of the last 12 points in Game 5 on its way to a 15-12 victory.

Edwards had three kills in the final game.

";We didn't want to end our regular season like this, with a loss,"; Edwards said. ";We didn't want to push back two games for nothing.";

WEST FARGO (kills-blocks-aces): Edwards 12-0-1 (18 digs), Young 10-1-0 (11 digs), Gjestvang 9-2-1, Hummel 8-0-1, Holaday 11-1-0, Green 3-0-2, Vance 0-0-0 (21 assists), Doggett 0-0-0 (22 assists).

NORTH: Koehler 6-1-2 (17 digs), Goughnour 14-3-0, Anderson 5-3-2, Olson 10-7-7 (20 digs), Eidsness 0-0-1, Welk 2-4-2 (33 assists), Langemo 5-1-0.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Eric Peterson at (701) 241-5513