DILLON, Mont. – Valley City State extended both of its weekend matches with third-set victories, but the Vikings were unable to complete either comeback as they fell in four sets to Montana Tech and Montana Western.
VCSU opened the road trip Friday in Butte with a 25-17, 25-20, 22-25, 25-17 loss to Montana Tech before dropping Saturday's match in Dillon, 25-23, 25-18, 26-28, 25-20. The Vikings finish the weekend with a 6-14 overall record and a 4-9 mark in Frontier Conference play.
Friday's match featured an efficient third-set offensive performance, while Saturday's contest saw VCSU collect 119 digs and fight off match point to force a fourth set.
Friday at Montana Tech
After dropping the first two sets, Valley City State found its offensive rhythm in the third. The Vikings delivered 17 kills with just three attack errors, hitting .519 to keep the match alive.
With the third set tied at 21-21, Kadie Kocka served consecutive aces to give VCSU a two-point advantage. Madden Bogenreif followed with a kill to bring up set point, and Mady Geist finished the 25-22 victory with a kill.
Montana Tech regained control in the fourth, taking the set 25-17 to close out the match.
Bogenreif led the Vikings with 12 kills on a .391 hitting percentage and added 21 assists for a double-double. Kocka contributed nine kills and three service aces, while Eden Carrier finished with eight kills, a .429 hitting percentage and two blocks.
Geist added seven kills. Ellie Lucas provided six kills without an attack error on 13 swings, hitting .462, and Brynn Sorenson also finished with six kills.
Gracie Schumacher recorded a double-double with 20 assists and a team-high 10 digs. Annika Pulju and Reece Cave added seven digs apiece.
VCSU finished with 51 kills, six service aces and a .252 hitting percentage. Montana Tech countered with 60 kills on .372 hitting, along with 10 aces and 10 team blocks.
Saturday at Montana Western
The Vikings and Bulldogs opened Saturday's match with a closely contested first set. VCSU built a 23-20 advantage, but Montana Western scored the final five points to take the opener 25-23. The Bulldogs followed with a 25-18 second-set victory.
Facing a two-set deficit for the second straight day, Valley City State again responded in the third. The Vikings trailed 24-23 before back-to-back Bulldog attack errors gave VCSU a 25-24 lead. The teams continued trading points until another Montana Western attack error and a Geist kill secured a 28-26 Viking victory.
Montana Western pulled ahead in the fourth and reached match point at 24-17. VCSU scored three straight points to extend the contest, but the Bulldogs closed out the match at 25-20.
Geist paced the Viking offense with 11 kills and three blocks. Carrier and Kocka added 10 kills each, with Carrier hitting .206 and contributing three block assists.
Six Vikings reached double figures in digs during the defensive battle. Hudson Zerface led the way with 25, followed by Schumacher with 22, Pulju with 18 and Molly Bjornbey with 17. Bogenreif added 12 digs, and Cave finished with 10.
Schumacher paired her 22 digs with 18 assists for her second double-double of the weekend. Bogenreif also recorded a double-double with 15 assists and 12 digs.
VCSU totaled 46 kills and six team blocks while limiting Montana Western to a .112 hitting percentage. The Bulldogs finished with 54 kills, 114 digs and 10 service aces.
The Vikings now return home for three matches next week, beginning Wednesday, Oct. 14, against Mayville State at 7 p.m. VCSU will then host Providence on Friday, Oct. 16, at 6 p.m. and Montana State-Northern on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 11:00 a.m., looking to turn the weekend's third-set responses into complete-match victories.
