BELLEVUE, NEB. – The Valley City State volleyball team picked up a pair of victories Friday at Bellevue's Labor Day Classic, including an impactful win over No. 14 Ottawa University.
 
The Vikings opened with a 3-1 win over Lindsey Wilson by final set scores of 21-25, 25-21, 25-18 and 25-22.
 
VCSU then defeated No. 14 Ottawa University in four sets, 25-22, 15-25, 25-20 and 25-15. The Vikings stunned the Braves in the final set, allowing just six kills on a .038 hitting percentage.
 
"In the match against Ottawa, we were able to keep them out of system with our aggressive serving," said head coach Michelle Meiklejohn. "As a team our offense stepped up and hit .295 which was really fun to see!"
 
VCSU's 5-2 record under Meiklejohn is its best start in more than 15 seasons. Lindsey Wilson drops to 3-4 on the season and Ottawa falls to 4-2 overall.
 
The Vikings continue play at the Labor Day Classic with two more games on Saturday. VCSU will face Avila University at 9 a.m. and Missouri Valley College at 2 p.m. in Bellevue, Neb.
 
VCSU 3, Lindsey Wilson 1
The Vikings opened the Bellevue Labor Day Classic with a four-set win over Lindsey Wilson University. VCSU dropped the first set 25-21, and took the next three sets by final scores of 25-21, 25-18 and 25-22.
 
Lindsey Wilson started strong with 17 kills en route to its first set 25-21 victory. From there, VCSU answered in the second set with 19 kills on a .310 hitting percentage. VCSU took a final 5-1 run capped by a Mardi Scutchings kill to win the set 25-21.
 
Set three opened with an early tie at 10-10 when VCSU took an 8-4 rally, capped again by a Scutchings kill. VCSU finished with a 25-18 victory in the set.
 
Finally, VCSU forced a 19-all tie on a block from Danielle Hagler and Sadie Hansen that sparked a run that would finish the set 25-22 in favor of the Vikings.
 
Bailey Nelson was one of three Vikings to record double figure kills and paced the Vikings with 13 kills. Mardi Scutchings and Danielle Hagler each chipped in 10 kills and combined for 12 blocks at the net. Hagler recorded seven blocks (5 assisted, 2 solo) and Scutchings added five (3 assisted, 2 solo).
 
Sadie Hansen finished with 42 set assists and 13 digs for a double-double. JayCee Richter led the defense with 16 digs while Reagan Bogenreif totaled 15 and Delani Clarke added 12.
 
 
VCSU 3, No. 14 Ottawa 1
Valley City State defeated the No. 14-ranked team in the country after tallying 59 kills on a .295 attack percentage. VCSU took the 3-1 victory with final set scores of 25-22, 15-25, 25-20 and 25-15.
 
VCSU dominated the first set with 19 kills while hitting .375 en route to a 25-22 win. Ottawa responded with its own strong set, taking an 8-3 run to win the set 25-15.
 
The Vikings continued to battle in set three as a Scutchings kill sparked an 9-2 rally to pull away with a 20-14 lead. Ottawa closed the gap to 23-20 but kills from Scutchings and Hansen secured the set 25-20 in favor of VCSU.
 
The fourth set was all VCSU as the Vikings tallied 15 kills to Ottawa's six, and held the Braves to a .038 attack percentage. The Vikings ended the set on a 10-6 run and Lexi Leroux put the match away on a service ace.
 
Sadie Hansen recorded her fifth straight double-double with 47 set assists and 12 digs.
 
Offensively, Scutchings recorded a season-high 14 kills for VCSU while Bailey Nelson added 13 kills and Morgan Freije added 10. Lucas recorded nine kills on .346 hitting and Hagler finished with eight kills while hitting .429 for VCSU.
 
JayCee Richter totaled a team-best 18 digs while Delani Clarke tallied 14 digs in the win. VCSU totaled six service aces including two from Leroux and two by Ellie Rush.