VALLEY CITY – Katie Juarez and Bailey Nelson's combined 48 kills paced the Viking volleyball team to a 3-2 victory over Briar Cliff in its exciting home opener Sunday.
Juarez finished with a career-best 24 kills and an astounding .579 hitting percentage while Nelson also chipped in a career-best 24 kills on a .367 hitting percentage.
A Bailey Nelson kill finished the final set Sunday to lift the Vikings to a 4-10 overall record. Valley City State defeated Briar Cliff 20-25, 25-16, 25-23, 17-25 and 17-15. Briar Cliff drops to 5-9 overall this season.
After the Vikings and Chargers held a 2-2 tie and forced a fifth set, Valley City State opened the final game with a 10-6 lead. Briar Cliff would later tie the game at 12-12 after a three-point run but their rally was halted by a kill from Juarez. The teams would tie again at 13-, 14- and 15-all as fans were on their feet for the final rallies. A Charger error followed by a Bailey Nelson kill put the thrilling ending away for the Vikings in their return to Graichen Gym for the first time since the 2019 season.
Valley City State also took sets two and three Sunday, hitting .423 and tallying 15 kills in set two. The Vikings finished the second set with 8-3 run, capped by a kill from Juarez, to win 25-16.
VCSU then took the third set in come-from-behind fashion. Briar Cliff held a 21-17 advantage when a Juarez kill changed the course of the game. From there, VCSU took a 7-2 run, including three kils from Bailey Nelson, to round out the set with a 25-23 win.
Briar Cliff took the first and third sets, capitalizing on nine Viking errors to give the Chargers a 25-20 victory in set one. Briar Cliff then committed just three errors and tallied 14 kills in the fourth set to claim the 25-17 win over VCSU.
Freshman Sadie Hansen finished with a new career-best 55 set assists in Sunday's victory and added 16 digs for her fifth straight double-double. Makayla Wetzel and Caitlyn Fischbach each recorded four blocks for VCSU Sunday.
Senior Kallene Klever finished with a team-high 25 digs. Juarez added 10 digs in addition to her 24 kills Sunday for her ninth double-double this season.
Briar Cliff's Chloe Johnson and Abbie Ericson each totaled 15 kills Sunday, while Tyra Blue and Toria Andre each added 10 kills for the Chargers. Maureen Imrie tallied 31 set assists and Tanna Heath finished with a team-high 16 digs.
UP NEXT: VCSU resumes conference play on Friday with a game against Waldorf at 7 p.m. in Graichen Gym. The Vikings then host No. 3 Viterbo on Saturday and Morningside on Sunday to round out its four-game homestand.
