VALLEY CITY – The Valley City State volleyball team used a strong team effort to take down Concordia Tuesday night in its home opener played at the W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse. Four Vikings finished with double-figure kills to help a four-set win by final scores of 25-12, 20-25, 25-23 and 25-15.
 
As a team, VCSU recorded a season-high .336 attack percentage and a second-best 61 kills on the night. Macy Fridgen has now recorded double-figure kills in three straight games after posting a team-best 14 kills Tuesday night. Danielle Hagler and Morgan Freije each added 12 kills and Emma Lucas posted 11. VCSU is now 7-4 on the season while Concordia drops to 0-6 overall.
 
The Vikings pulled away early in the first set with a 14-6 advantage on a Morgan Nelson kill, and handily took the set 25-12. The Vikings built up a 17-14 advantage in the second set on a service ace from Ellie Rush, but Concordia found an answer as the Cobbers took a 7-2 run to take over a 21-19 lead and prompted a VCSU timeout. Out of the break, Betsy Schiltz delivered an ace to help propel the Cobbers to a 25-20 win and tie the match 1-1.
 
The third set went back-and-forth as neither team could pull away by more than four points throughout. Concordia managed to turn a 22-19 deficit into a 23-23 tie late, but the Vikings secured the 25-23 win on a Morgan Freije kill. VCSU stepped up its momentum in the fourth set, totaling 18 kills with just three attack errors en route to a 25-15 win.
 
VCSU's front row tallied nine blocks Tuesday, including five by Freije (1 solo, 4 assisted) and four by Hagler (2 solo, 2 assisted). Lucas and Morgan Nelson added three assisted blocks apiece.
 
Sadie Hansen finished with 46 set assists and eight digs for the Vikings. Delani Clarke led the Viking defense with 13 digs while Lexi Thorsgard totaled eight and Ellie Rush chipped in seven.
 
UP NEXT: (RV) VCSU travels to No. 15 Morningside University for a Friday night matchup. First serve is at 6 p.m. in Sioux City, Iowa.