The Valley City State volleyball team dropped a three-set match Wednesday night against Mayville State in their North Star Athletic Association finale.
The Comets won the match in Valley City by scores of 25-21, 25-23, 26-24. Valley City State drops to 8-19 overall and 3-10 in conference play. Mayville State improves to 11-21 overall and 3-8 in conference play.
Mayville State had 17 kills and hit .343 in set one as the Comets jumped out to an early lead in the match with a 25-21 victory.
Both teams recorded 17 kills in set two, but Mayville scored nine straight points in the middle of the set, building a 7-6 lead into a commanding 16-6 lead. Trailing 24-17, the Vikings made things interesting by scoring six straight points with Emily Plowman at the service line. But on their sixth set point, the Comets were able to secure a 25-23 victory with a kill from Sydney Boom.
In set three, the Vikings had 18 kills but were hurt by 10 attacking errors. The Vikings led 23-20 and were on the verge of forcing a fourth set, but the Comets rallied to score six of the final seven points for a 26-24 win. VCSU had two set points after leading 24-22, but the Comets scored four straight to close the match.
Seri Geisler had 11 kills, and both Kanani Auwae and Chelzie-Kristina Ulu had eight kills in the loss. Clarissa Olson recorded six kills and just one error for a .455 hitting percentage. Jaycee George led the defense with 20 digs. Taylor Balkan had 22 assists, and Steph Miller recorded 18 assists and three service aces.
Mayville State was led by 11 kills from Remington Werner. Jen Puncochar and Jordan Johnson each had eight kills, and Stephany Wolld had seven kills and a .545 attack percentage. Megan Kolness recorded 35 assists for the Comets, and Sydney Boom had 16 digs.
Mayville State hit .259 as a team and recorded seven blocks. The Vikings hit .202 and had five blocks.
Up next: Valley City State and Mayville State will both be back in action Saturday in Valley City for matches against Clarke University. The Clarke and Mayville junior varsity teams play at 10 a.m.; the Clarke and Mayville varsity teams play at noon; and the VCSU and Clarke varsity teams play at 2 p.m. All three matches will be in Valley City's Graichen Gymnasium.
