MOORHEAD, MINN. – Danielle Hagler's career-best 18 kills helped the Valley City State volleyball team to a 3-1 victory over Concordia College-Moorhead on Tueday night, 25-11, 22-25, 25-21 and 25-21.
 
The Vikings have now won five straight games and improve to 8-2 on the season, its best start since the 1996 season when VCSU started with an 11-0 record. Concordia drops to 3-2 overall.

"Our defense really stepped up tonight, and our balanced offense was able to keep them out of system," said head coach Michelle Meiklejohn. "We are excited to play in front of our home crowd this weekend!"
 
Valley City State will play its home opener against the University of Winnipeg on Friday at 12 p.m. in Graichen Gym as the Vikings kick off the VCSU Invite.
 
The Vikings started out strong Tuesday night with a quick 25-11 victory in set one after holding the Cobbers to a .026 attack percentage in the opener.
 
Concordia then responded with its best set of the night, hitting .368 with 18 kills. Concordia started with an early 12-9 advantage but a Hagler kill sparked a five-point run for VCSU to take over with a 14-12 lead. Concordia began to pull away with a 20-18 lead, but three kills from Hagler down the stretch helped the Vikings keep it close. Concordia held on to win the second set 25-22.
 
VCSU and Concordia traded rallies in set three as the Vikings tried to pull away with a seven-point rally capped by a kill from Emma Lucas to build an 11-5 lead. The Cobbers would pull back in with a 6-1 run to lead 18-17. VCSU pulled ahead but Concordia would tie it one last time before the final Viking rally – including four kills by Hagler – to take the set 25-21.
 
Concordia fought early in set four, building a lead as much as 14-9. VCSU pulled back into it though, using a 6-1 run to close the gap. With the set tied at 21-21, the Vikings secured the set 25-21 with the help of three Lucas kills.
 
Sadie Hansen finished with 46 set assists to help the Viking offense Tuesday. Hagler finished with 18 kills on a .484 hitting percentage and chipped in four assisted blocks at the net. Also posting double figure kills were Lucas (11), Bailey Nelson (10) and Morgan Freije (10).
 
Reagan Bogenreif led all players with 23 digs and JayCee Richter added 18. Ellie Rush finished with 13 digs and a pair of service aces for VCSU.
 
UP NEXT: VCSU hosts its home opener as a part of its own tournament on Friday and Saturday. VCSU will play four games over the weekend and opens its home schedule against the University of Winnipeg on Friday at 12 p.m. in Graichen Gym.