DICKINSON – The Valley City State volleyball team swept Dickinson State to open its conference season Wednesday on the road. The Vikings defeated the Blue Hawks 25-11, 25-17 and 25-16.
VCSU's offense was fueled by a trio of Vikings hitting above .400 in the match, each getting more than 15 attempts on the night.
Mardi Scutchings posted 11 kills,
Emma Lucas added 10 and
Bailey Nelson recorded nine in the win.
VCSU, who is receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll, improves to 12-3 on the season and opens its North Star schedule at 1-0. Dickinson drops to 0-13 on the season and 0-1 in the conference.
"Our serving took them out of system letting our offense take over," said head coach
Michelle Meiklejohn. "Our blocking and defense stepped up, too, so that was good to see."
VCSU opened strong, hitting .367 in set one. The Vikings built a 19-8 lead on a Scutchings kill en route to a 25-11 win. Dickinson held close in the second set but as the teams were tied at 17, VCSU finished with eight straight points to take the 25-17 win on a Lucas kill.
Finally, VSCU took a 6-0 run to build an early 9-3 lead they wouldn't give up. The Vikings finished the third set 25-16 with the help of back-to-back kills by
Danielle Hagler.
JayCee Richter totaled a season-high 26 digs as the Vikings nearly doubled the Blue Hawks in total digs, 60-32. The Vikings also posted 47 kills to Dickinson's 20 kills in the game.
Nelson finished with a .533 attack percentage Wednesday with just one error in the match. Lucas hit .500 while Scutchings totaled a .412 hitting percentage.
Hagler added eight kills for the Vikings while
Morgan Freije recorded seven.
Sadie Hansen posted 38 set assists Wednesday.
Dickinson's Brooklyn Wyllie and Makyah Albrecht each tallied five kills while Haydin Henschel recorded a team-high 10 digs. Bailey Pearcy posted eight set assists and Rylee Kogolshak finished with six.
UP NEXT: VCSU returns home Friday night to host Briar Cliff in a non-conference matchup. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. in Graichen Gym.
