VALLEY CITY, N.D. – The Valley City State University volleyball team fell to the (RV) Montana State University Northern Skylights 3-0 on Saturday, Oct. 18. Set scores were 25-22, 25-21, and 35-33 in favor of the Skylights.
The Vikings are now 9-12 overall and 7-9 in Frontier Conference games. The (RV) Skylights are now 13-9 overall and 11-5 in Frontier games.
The first set featured back-and-forth action with 15 ties and four lead changes. Northern started the set with a 5-3 lead, where the Vikings would mount a four-point run, claiming a 7-6 lead courtesy of a kill by
Rosie Anderson,
Eden Carrier, and
Macy Fridgen. Annkia Pulju tallied an ace to cap off the run. From VCSU 7-6, the score stayed within 1 point until 17-17, where Northern would score three straight and hold that lead for the remainder of the set, finishing 25-22.
The Vikings started with a 3-0 lead in the second set, scoring three off
JayCee Richter's serve; one ace and kills by
Emma Lucas and
Danielle Hagler. Northern then matched the Viking run, tying the game 3-3. Halfway through the second set, the Vikings found themselves trailing by a couple. With the score of 14-11 in favor of Northern, the Vikings rallied and tied the game at 15-15, causing a Montana timeout. Down the stretch, Northern held just ahead of the Vikings, closing the set 25-21.
Valley City found an early run in the third set, scoring six straight on
Gracie Schumacher's serve, including two aces and kills by
Morgan Freije, taking a 7-2 lead. The Skylights narrowed the gap to 10-7, forcing a VCSU timeout. Subsequently, the Vikings once again grew their lead to 17-10 with kills by Lucas and a
Delani Clarke ace. Northern then steadily edged closer, scoring two points to every Viking one. The tied the game at 23-23, where the evenly matched teams battled it out, going point for point with each other until the score of 33-33. Northern edged ahead with a kill by Lexa Stock and Lexi Jones to close out the match.
Fridgen led the Vikings with 12 kills.
Danielle Hagler and
Morgan Freije trialed with 11 kills each. The tandem of setters continued to prove productive with
Madden Bogenreif earning 26 assists and
Gracie Schumacher tallying 20 of her own. Bogenreif and Schumacher also led the team in digs, both tallying 11.
Eden Carrier and
Rosie Anderson both tallied 3 total blocks in the contest.
UP NEXT: The Vikings remain at home taking on the (RV) Carroll College next Friday, Oct. 24, at 7:00 p.m.
