VALLEY CITY – The Valley City State volleyball team finished the first half of its conference season with a sweep over Presentation Saturday, 25-23, 25-22 and 25-18.
It is the Viking volleyball team's second straight sweep after defeating Mayville State in three sets on Wednesday night.
"We see a lot of players stepping up right now and everyone is contributing. When you see how much the ball is moving around and evens out the stat sheet, that's what is so important to our success." said head coach Brigitte Greywater.
Valley City State improves to 5-2 in the North Star Athletic Association after the first half of conference play. VCSU sits in third place in the conference standings, behind nationally ranked teams Viterbo and Bellevue, respectively. The Vikings now hold an 8-13 overall record. Presentation drops to 11-9 overall and 1-6 in the NSAA.
Saturday was also VCSU's Cancer Awareness game. All proceeds and donations will benefit the Sanford Roger Maris Cancer Center in Fargo.
Greywater credits more than the Viking attack to her team's success.
"Sadie Hansen is hustling around everywhere and still putting up the ball so we can attack. Every single back row player performed well, and we put together another great serve receive game," she added.
Hansen totaled 39 set assists, six digs and four kills for the Vikings Saturday. Katie Juarez led all players with 20 digs and added 12 kills and three service aces in VCSU's victory. Kallene Klever finished with 12 digs, and Lexi Leroux and Ava Wille each recorded seven.
Bailey Nelson also added a team-high 12 kills Saturday while Brooke Blessum tallied eight and Caitlyn Fischbach contributed seven.
Presentation opened with high energy Saturday, coming off a five-set loss at Dickinson State Friday night. The Saints led 17-13 in the first set, but the Vikings came back to take a 20-19 advantage on a block by Fischbach and Blessum. A Blessum kill brought up set point for the Vikings at 24-21, but the Vikings allowed the Saints to take two more points before Fischbach put away the first set with a kill to win 25-23.
The Saints were able to keep it close in the second set as the Vikings committed 13 attack errors. VCSU also tallied 13 kills and finished the 25-22 victory on a service ace from Juarez.
The Vikings then found their rhythm in set three as they totaled 17 kills and committed just one attack error. The Vikings led by as much as eight points in the third set on a kill from Blessum en route to the 25-18 victory.
Presentation's Kenzie Kuxhaus finished with 16 digs and Laura Babcock added 15 digs Saturday. Olivia Corey totaled 18 assists and 11 digs while Sydney Miller added 11 assists for the Saints. Constence Rollins led Presentation's offense with nine kills.
UP NEXT: VCSU hosts Dickinson State for a conference matchup on Tuesday, Oct. 12. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Graichen Gym.
