LA CROSSE, WIS. – The Valley City State volleyball team split a pair of games Saturday at the Viterbo Tournament, including a sweep over Judson University.
VCSU opened Saturday's tournament with three straight sets over Judson, 26-24, 25-17 and 25-18. The Vikings then fell to tournament host and No. 17-ranked Viterbo University, 3-1, with final set scores 25-21, 17-25, 26-24 and 25-14.
Valley City State is now 6-4 on the season. Judson drops to 3-5 overall and Viterbo improves to 8-7 on the season.
UP NEXT: VCSU hosts Concordia for its home opener on Tuesday, Sept. 10. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. at the W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse.
(RV) VCSU 3, Judson 0
Valley City State took a straight sweep over Judson after totaling 48 kills while hitting a season-best .321 as a team. The Vikings became more efficient throughout the match, concluding with 19 kills and just three errors for a .485 attack percentage in set three.
Judson kept up with VCSU in the opening set, holding at least five ties early. Despite trailing 24-23, VCSU finished with the final three points, including a
Macy Fridgen kill and solo block, to take a 26-24 win.
From there, the Vikings stepped up in the second set and pulled away with a 9-4 run capped by a kill by
Morgan Freije to hold a 22-15 lead. VCSU held on and put away the 25-17 set with another Fridgen kill.
Judson wouldn't give up easily, holding onto a 17-17 tie in the third set. The Vikings finished it though, taking eight of the next nine points including three
Danielle Hagler kills, to secure the sweep with a 25-18 final set.
Fridgen finished with 11 kills on a .500 attack percentage to lead the Vikings. Hagler and Freije each added nine kills and
Morgan Nelson totaled seven. Fridgen and Hagler each recorded three blocks at the net.
Sadie Hansen totaled 37 set assists, seven digs and five kills for the Vikings. Defensively,
Delani Clarke paced the Vikings with 17 digs.
No. 17 Viterbo 3, (RV) VCSU 1
Tournament host No. 17 Viterbo upended the Vikings in four sets, 25-21, 17-25, 26-24 and 25-14.
The V-Hawks finished with 57 kills to VCSU's 47, but VCSU held a 10-7 advantage on the block. Viterbo also managed 10 service errors but it wasn't enough for VCSU to capitalize on in the match.
Viterbo took the first set 25-21 as VCSU recorded 10 attack errors in the opening set. VCSU answered in the second set as a big block from Hagler and
Emma Lucas sparked an 8-2 run to build a 20-12 advantage. The Vikings finished the 25-17 set on a kill by
Sadie Hansen.
VCSU held onto its momentum and found a five-point run capped by a Hagler kill to hold a 23-17 advantage. Viterbo made a late comeback, scoring seven of the next eight points to tie the set at 24. VCSU took a timeout to regroup but it wouldn't be enough as Viterbo finished the set with a kill from Izzy Jahr and solo block by Jada Mitchell.
Viterbo then put together its best set of the match, totaling 15 kills and just three errors in set four. With Viterbo leading 10-9, three straight kills by Sadie Treptow helped spark the V-Hawks to the 25-14 win in the final set.
Fridgen posted a team-high 14 kills and two blocks while Hagler recorded 10 kills and seven blocks in the match.
Morgan Nelson added eight kills and four blocks for VCSU.
Hansen tallied 33 set assists and 17 digs for a double-double, and added five kills for the Vikings. Clarke recorded a team-best 28 digs, and
Ellie Rush added 10.
