VALLEY CITY – The Valley City State volleyball team took a 3-0 victory over Mayville State in front of a full crowd Thursday night at the W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse. The Vikings have now won its last five games in straight sets.
The Vikings defeated the Comets 25-22, 25-14 and 28-26. Despite hitting .105 as a team Thursday night, VCSU's head coach
Michelle Meiklejohn recognized the defense as its saving grace against her former team.
"I'm so proud of our block and our defense, I think our passing really stepped up tonight and it was great to see that," Meiklejohn said.
VCSU improves to 14-3 on the season and 2-0 in the conference while Mayville State drops to 8-4 overall and 0-1 in the North Star. Valley City State handed Mayville its first conference-opening loss since the 2018 season.
The Vikings and Comets rallied back and forth in the opening set with their respective student sections fueling the energy on the court. VCSU took four of the last five points and decided the set 25-22 on a block by
Morgan Freije and
Bailey Nelson.
VCSU then used the momentum to start the second set with a 7-3 advantage. VCSU went on to stun the Comets in the second set 25-14, with the help of a 12-3 rally capped by a Hagler kill.
In the third set, VCSU held a narrow edge most of the way. With VCSU leading 20-17, Mayville took five straight points – including a Samantha Passa service ace – to take over the lead, 22-20. The Vikings answered with a 4-1 run including a block by Hagler and
Sadie Hansen to reach match-point at 24-23.
After a Mayville timeout, Abby Cox made a solo block to help the Comets take a 3-1 rally to lead 26-25. The Vikings answered with the next three points and put it away 28-26 on a
JayCee Richter service ace.
Bailey Nelson led all players with 13 kills while Hagler, Freije and
Mardi Scutchings each recorded six. Hagler recorded a team-high six blocks (1 solo, 5 assisted) and Freije chipped in five (1 solo, 4 assisted).
Sadie Hansen finished with 32 set assists and 16 digs while
Delani Clarke chipped in 11 digs.
JayCee Richter totaled eight digs and two service aces for the Vikings.
Mayville's Natalie Hadrava led all players with 34 digs in Thursday's match. Nicole Kortan tallied a team-high nine kills while Samantha Passa chipped in eight. Elora Passa recorded 19 set assists and Payton Richter totaled 11.
UP NEXT: The Vikings continue conference play next weekend with its matchups returning to Graichen Gym. VCSU will play No. 6 Viterbo on Friday, Sept. 29 at 6 p.m. for Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night.
