VALLEY CITY, N.D. – The Valley City State Vikings hosted the number two ranked team in the nation in the University of Providence. Things playing hard, gritty volleyball, the Vikings fell in four sets to the Argos. Providence won 21-25, 25-15, 25-17, 25-17.

The Vikings are not 9-11 overall and 7-8 in the Frontier Conference. The Argos are 21-2 and 15-0 in the conference.

In the first set the Vikings played a strong set that ended with a win. There were five ties but no lead changes in the set. Valley City State scored the first point on a block by Danielle Hagler. The Argos tied it on the next point then it was back and for the first twelve rallies. The Vikings took the lead in the set on a kill by Hagler that made it 7-6. The biggest in the set for the Vikings was five points. A kill by Morgan Freije made it 19-14 and capped a 6-3 run by VCSU. The Argos would get to within two at 20-18, but a 4-1 run by Valley City State got the lead back up to five. A block by Rosie Anderson and Hagler made it 24-19. Providence did get the next two points, but a kill by Gracie Schumacher ended the set with Vikings up 25-21.

In the second set, Providence jumped out to an eight-point lead. A block Sadie Giles and Isabelle Cahill made it 10-2 Providence. Kills by Emma Lucas and Macy Fridgen made it 17-8 Providence. That would be as close as the Vikings would get the rest of the set. The biggest lead for the Argos would be twelve after a block by Martyna Fiedler made it 21-9 Providence. The final in the set would be 25-15.

In the third set, the Vikings tied it at 1-1 with a kill by Macy Fridgen, but they would not be able to take the lead. A kill by Cabry Taylor made it 2-1 to give Providence a lead they would not give up. After a kill by Fridgen made it 12-10, Providence went on an 8-2 run to open an eight-point lead. The lead for the Argos would stay between six and eight points the rest of the way with the final tally being 25-17.

Kills by Emma Lucas and Macy Fridgen gave the Vikings a 2-1 lead early in the fourth set. A kill by the Argo's Fiedler made it 5-4 Providence. The Argos could not completely pull away from the Vikings the rest of the set. Every time Providence went on any kind of a run, the Vikings would answer. But Providence would score the last three points of the set to win 25-17.

Macy Fridgen led the way for the Vikings with 18 kills. Danielle Hagler had ten kills, Morgan Freije had nine kills, while Emma Lucas had six. Gracie Schumacher and Madden Bogenreif had doubles-doubles. Schumacher had 23 assists and 14 digs; Bogenreif had 18 assists and ten digs. JayCee Richter led the defense with 20 digs, Delani Clarke had 13, and Annika Pulju added twelve.

UP NEXT: The Vikings host (RV) Montana State-Northern at Graichen Gym Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Watch Live Stats