DICKINSON – The Valley City State volleyball team dropped a pair of matches to opponents from the Frontier Conference Friday at the DSU Crossover.
Senior Katie Juarez totaled 32 kills in two games Friday, tying her career-high with 19 kills in the first matchup against University of Montana-Western. The Vikings fell short in four sets to UM-Western 25-22, 25-27, 25-23 and 25-18.
Juarez then followed up with 13 kills in the second game of the day, but Montana State University-Northern bested VCSU 23-25, 25-21, 25-22, and 25-21.
The Vikings drop to a 2-7 overall record. VCSU wraps up the DSU Crossover tournament on Saturday, taking on Montana State-Northern at 12 p.m. and University of Montana-Western at 2 p.m. CDT. Live video and stats will be available for both games.
UM-Western 3, VCSU 1
Valley City State was able to take just one set from Montana-Western in a four-set loss to the Bulldogs Friday.
University of Montana-Western finished with 15 blocks that proved to be enough, despite VCSU leading the Bulldogs in kills (48-42), assists (42-37) and aces (9-7). The Vikings committed 33 errors to Montana-Western's 23 errors in the match.
Neither team led by more than two points most of the way in the first set, until the Vikings scored three straight points on two Juarez kills paired with a Bulldog error to lead 21-18. Montana-Western finished with three straight points of their own to take the first set 25-22.
The second set was close early, but the Bulldogs took a 7-1 run to hold a 23-18 advantage. The Vikings then scored three straight points capped by a kill from Caitlyn Fischbach to trail 23-21. The Vikings scored four of the next five points to lead 25-24 but were held off by a Bulldog kill. Big kills from Juarez and Cindy Gray finished the set in favor of the Vikings, 27-25.
The Vikings opened with a 6-0 lead to pace the third set. The Bulldogs inched closer and took over the advantage at 19-18. From there, the two teams battled until the very end when Montana-Western's Morgan Stenger scored two final points to take the 25-23 victory.
Montana-Western pulled away from VCSU midway through the fourth set on a 5-1 rally to lead 20-14. The Vikings couldn't get closer down the stretch as the Bulldogs took the final set 25-18.
Katie Juarez led the Viking attack, tying her career-high 19 kills in the match. She also added seven digs and three service aces Friday. Bailey Nelson added nine kills, while Morgan Nelson finished with six kills and three blocks. Cindy Gray also added three blocks for the Vikings.
Kallene Klever tallied a team-high 18 digs and three service aces for VCSU. Sadie Hansen finished with 25 set assists and eight digs, while Ellie Rush added nine assists and two aces.
Montana State-Northern 3, VCSU 1
Valley City State took the opening set from Montana State-Northern but dropped the next three sets in a back-and-forth battle with the Skylights.
VCSU again led its opponent in kills (46-42), assists (41-38), aces (9-8) and blocks (9-8) but committed 28 errors to Montana State-Northern's 23 errors in the game.
The Vikings opened with their best attack of the night, hitting .229 and tallying 15 kills. Valley City State took its largest lead of the first set at 23-20 after scoring five straight points capped by an ace from Juarez. Montana-Nothern tied it up at 23-all, but a kill from Bailey Nelson paired with a Skylights error gave the Vikings the first set 25-23.
Montana State-Northern opened with an early 8-4 lead in set two, but the Vikings would take a 5-1 rally to take over a 10-9 advantage. The teams went back and forth until the very end when the Skylights scored three straight points to take the 25-21 victory over the Vikings.
The Skylights led by as much as five points at 22-17 in the third set when the Vikings started inching closer. Trailing 23-19, the Vikings took four of the next five points including a pair of kills from Makayla Wetzel to trail 24-23. Montana State-Northern took the final point to defeat VCSU 25-22.
After trailing 7-2 early in the fourth set, a kill from Cindy Gray sparked a five-point Viking rally to lead 10-8. From there, the teams alternated yet again but Montana State-Northern finished with three straight points to take the set 25-21 and match 3-1.
Juarez finished with 13 kills, nine digs and two service aces in the loss. Bailey Nelson added 10 kills and Caitlyn Fischback totaled seven. Makayla Wetzel and Brooke Blessum each tallied three blocks at the net for VCSU.
Freshman Ellie Rush finished with a team-high 17 set assists and three service aces for the Vikings while Sadie Hansen added 16 assists and seven digs. Kallene Klever finished with a team-high 14 digs Friday.
