VALLEY CITY – Valley City State's Bailey Nelson made the most of Senior Day on Saturday afternoon, tallying 19 kills to power VCSU to a 3-1 victory over Waldorf by final scores of 25-14, 25-20, 17-25 and 30-28.
"We needed the win and showed up to play today," said head coach Brigitte Greywater. "I was proud and impressed with their adaptability and maintaining that constant winning attitude."
VCSU improves to 9-16 on the season and 4-8 in the conference. Waldorf drops to 12-11 overall and 3-10 in the NSAA.
The Vikings handily took the first set on their home court after hitting an astounding .481 to open the match. Then in the second set, the Vikings built a strong 19-14 advantage on a Danielle Hagler kill and held on to put the set away, 25-20.
Waldorf wouldn't let up though, capitalizing on Viking errors and tallied 10 kills to take the third set 25-17. The Warriors held onto their momentum in set four, opening with a 13-7 lead. With the Vikings trailing 20-16, a Sadie Hansen kill would help spur a VCSU comeback. The Vikings then went on an 8-3 run to build up a match point opportunity at 24-23. The teams went back and forth down the stretch, but VCSU put the final set away at 30-28 with the help of a pair of Hagler kills.
The Vikings recognized senior Bailey Nelson and manager Millisa Kukowski with a short ceremony after Saturday's game. Nelson finished Saturday's match with 19 kills as she continues to fuel the Viking offense.
Greywater spoke of Nelson's value to the Viking squad, "Her leadership is some of the best leadership skills I've seen in my career. With a young team, she meets the younger players where they're at, they have fun together, and they trust her. That's Bailey Nelson – you know what you're going to get with her. She is seeing the floor very well right now and offering us so many options. She'll tip it, go deep, go line; She has at least 12 different shots at any given time."
Morgan Freije chipped in 10 kills on 15 swings without a single error Saturday, totaling a .667 attack percentage. Danielle Hagler finished with nine kills while Emma Lucas and Morgan Nelson each tallied six.
Four Vikings totaled double figure digs in the match, led by JayCee Richter who posted 14. Hagler and Delani Clarke each added 12 and Sadie Hansen finished with 10. Hansen added a game-high 46 set assists in the match.
Kenzie Kidd tallied 15 kills and 17 digs to lead the Warriors Saturday. Zoee Pond added 11 kills, and Alicia Brandt had a hand in six blocks. Kaitlyn Bakke finished with 24 set assists and Emma Hovenga chipped in 18 assists. Kaylee Kidd led all players with 22 digs in the match.
VCSU finishes out the regular season with two conference games at home next week. The Vikings play Mayville State on Wednesday, Nov. 2 and then host Presentation on Friday, Nov. 4. Both matches are scheduled for 6 p.m.
"We can compete with anybody. We went to five sets with both Mayville and Presentation last time. Anything is possible and it's go-time. The way we battled back in the fourth set today, our confidence grew tremendously." Greywater said.
