The Valley City State volleyball team officially opened the 2016 season by splitting a pair of matches Friday at the Corn Palace Classic in Mitchell, S.D.
The Vikings earned a five-set victory over Mount Marty in the first match of the day, and then lost in four sets to Dickinson State in the second match.
VCSU moves to 1-1 on the season.
Up next: Valley City State plays two more matches Saturday in Mitchell. The Vikings take on Clarke University at 10 a.m., and close the tournament with host Dakota Wesleyan at 4 p.m. Follow live stats from Saturday's matches at www.vcsuvikings.com/watch
VCSU 3, Mount Marty 2
Valley City State held off three match points for Mount Marty as the Vikings rallied for victory in a five-set thriller to open the 2016 season.
The Vikings trailed 14-11 in the fifth set, but scored the last five points of the match to earn a 16-14 win in the deciding set.
VCSU dominated the first two sets en route to 25-17 and 25-14 wins. But Mount Marty rallied back with two wins of its own, taking sets three and four by scores of 25-21 and 26-24. That set up the decisive fifth set where the Vikings rallied in the closing points.
Three Vikings reached double-digit kills, let by 15 from Hailie Wilds. Clarissa Olson scored 11 kills and hit for a .391 percentage, while Autumn Johnson had 10 kills and a .318 hitting percentage. Taylor Sharp added nine kills and Nicolette Bloomer posted seven kills.
Taylor Balkan had 37 assists and 12 digs in the match, while Jayce George posted 30 digs and three service aces. Olson and Leah Ruter each added a pair of aces.
The Vikings outhit Mount Marty, .220 to .196. VCSU had eight aces and six blocks. Mount Marty posted nine aces and five blocks.
Dickinson State 3, VCSU 1
The Blue Hawks earned their first win of the season by down VCSU in four sets Friday afternoon.
After dropping set one, 21-25, the Vikings tied the match at 1-1 with a 25-16 win in set two. It was all Dickinson from there though as the Blue Hawks ended the match with 25-15 and 25-22 victories.
Taylor Sharp led the Viking attack with 11 kills and a .375 hitting percentage. Nicolette Bloomer added eight kills and hit .500. Jaycee George dug 19 balls and served up two aces. Meagan Schwarzrock had 23 assists in the loss.
Dickinson State outhit the Vikings, .300 to .181.
