The Valley City State volleyball team split a pair of road matches this weekend, defeating Dakota State University on Friday before falling at Bellevue University on Saturday

VCSU lost the first set Friday night at Dakota State, but rallied to win the final three sets for a 21-25, 25-11, 25-18, 25-21 victory. On Saturday, the Vikings lost in straight sets at Bellevue, 23-25, 16-25, 14-25.

Valley City State is now 14-12 overall and 7-5 in the North Star Athletic Association. The Vikings are currently third in the NSAA standings with two conference games remaining. VCSU closes out the regular season at home, hosting Mayville State on Tuesday, Oct. 30, and Presentation College on Saturday, Nov. 3.

Up next: VCSU hosts Mayville State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The match will be a "green out" as both teams and the VCSU Student-Athlete Advisory Council work to promote H8ALTHY MINDS, a mental health initiative. The first 200 students in attendance from either school will receive a free green t-shirt promoting H8ALTHY MINDS.

VCSU 3, Dakota State 1
Valley City State hit .226 in the match, racking up 48 kills in 133 swings. Katie Juarez and Paige Benson each had 12 kills while Clarissa Olson added 10. After dropping the first set, VCSU came back strong by hitting .321 in the second set for a 25-11 victory.

Setter Leah Ruter tallied a double-double with 29 assists and 10 digs. She also added three service aces. Hailie Wilds served three aces as well and had a team-high 17 digs. Charlotte Huschka added 12 digs from the back row. The Vikings finished with 10 block points, including 2.5 each by Olson and Autumn Johnson.

Bellevue 3, VCSU 0
Bellevue rallied late for a 25-23 victory in set one, and then finished the match with 25-16 and 25-14 wins.

Benson had a team-high eight kills for the Vikings. Juarez totaled seven kills and Olson had six. Ruter finished with 20 assists, and Hailie Wilds had 10 digs. Olson picked up seven block assists.