HAVRE, Mont. – The Valley City State volleyball team fell to Montana State-Northern in three sets Friday night, 25-20, 25-23 and 25-13.
The Vikings stayed within striking distance throughout the opening set. VCSU cut the Skylights' lead to 20-19 following kills from Molly Bjorneby and Kadie Kocka, but MSU-Northern closed the set with five of the final six points to win 25-20.
VCSU delivered its strongest push of the night in the second set. After falling behind 21-18, the Vikings scored four straight points—including two kills by Eden Carrier and a pair of assisted blocks—to take a 22-21 lead. The Skylights responded by scoring four of the final five points to escape with a 25-23 victory.
Montana State-Northern opened the third set with six consecutive points and later used an 11-1 run to build an 18-5 advantage. The Vikings responded with a late 6-0 run behind the serving of Hudson Zerface, but the Skylights finished the sweep with a 25-13 win.
Carrier and Mady Geist led VCSU with seven kills apiece. Carrier added four block assists, while Geist recorded two solo blocks. Bjorneby finished with six kills, and Kocka added four kills, 10 digs and two block assists.
Madden Bogenreif totaled a team-high 17 assists and added seven digs. Gracie Schumacher contributed 11 assists and nine digs, while Zerface recorded 12 digs and two service aces. Annika Pulju led the Viking defense with 15 digs.
VCSU finished the match with 31 kills, 59 digs, three service aces and six total blocks. Montana State-Northern posted 35 kills and hit .191 in the match.
