VALLEY CITY, N.D. (VCSUVikings.com) – Valley City State’s volleyball team won the first two sets against No. 7-ranked Viterbo University on Saturday afternoon, but the Vikings couldn’t quite complete the historic upset. Viterbo rallied back for a five-set victory to extend its conference winning streak to 50 straight matches.
Valley City State played some of its best volleyball of the season in the first two sets, defeating the V-Hawks by scores of 25-18 and 25-21. Viterbo battled back with victories in the final three sets by scores of 25-22, 25-14, 15-7.
Valley City State drops to 13-11 overall and 6-4 in the North Star Athletic Association. Viterbo improves to 24-5 overall and 10-0 in the NSAA.
Viterbo has now won 50 straight matches in the North Star Athletic Association, dating back to when they joined the conference in 2015. VCSU was just the second NSAA team this season to take a set from Viterbo, and it was the first time since Oct. 21, 2017, that the V-Hawks were taken to a fifth set in conference play.
The Vikings have now gone to five sets in six of their 10 NSAA matches. VCSU is 3-3 in those five-set matches with two of those losses coming against ranked teams: No. 22-ranked Bellevue University and now No. 7 Viterbo.
Valley City State trailed 18-15 in the first set Saturday but ripped off 10 straight points in a stunning rally to end it. Three straight kills by Paige Benson tied it at 18-18. Two Viking blocks, an ace by Hailie Wilds and three Viterbo mistakes put the Vikings up 24-18, and then Clarissa Olson smashed a kill for set point to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead in the match. VCSU hit .444 in the first set with 14 kills and just two errors.
Set two was more of the same as the Vikings controlled the action most of the way. VCSU led by as many as eight points – opening up a 20-12 lead on Autumn Johnson’s kill – en route to the 25-21 victory.
The V-Hawks responded in set three, never trailing as they picked up the 25-22 win. After VCSU went down 10-5, the Vikings battled back to tie it at 11-11. From there, the teams were tied at 12-12 and 15-15. Viterbo led 20-19 before a Viking serving error and a kill from Katie Frohmader gave the V-Hawks some breathing room at 22-19. Lydia Xu killed set point to get the V-Hawks back in the match.
The teams traded leads throughout the early points of set four. Tied 11-11, the V-Hawks took control with five straight points, building a 16-11 lead and rolling down the stretch for a 25-14 victory. Viterbo hit .364 in the fourth set, totaling 15 kills and just three attacking errors.
Set five was more of the same as Viterbo opened up a 5-2 lead early and did not trail the rest of the way, securing the match victory with a 15-7 win.
Viterbo ended the match with a .220 to .164 advantage in hitting percentage. The V-Hawks had a slight 8-7 edge in blocking. VCSU finished with seven aces and 12 serving errors while Viterbo had five aces and nine errors.
Benson led the Viking attack with a match-high 16 kills. The sophomore hit .255 on the day, totaling 16 kills and just four errors in 47 swings. Olson had 11 kills and hit .400. She added five blocks as well. Leah Ruter totaled 31 assists and nine digs. Hailie Wilds finished with 22 digs and three aces from the libero position, and Kallene Kleven posted 10 digs in the back row.
Viterbo had three players post double-digit kills, including 15 kills, 16 digs and a .400 hitting day by Frohmader. Aubrey Aspen finished with 14 kills and Miah Garant totaled 13 kills. Chloe Jakscht finished with 27 assists and Lauryn Sobasky had 22 assists. Hannah Erickson had a team-high three aces and Rachel Frankowski posted 22 digs.
Up next: Valley City State is on the road at Dakota State (Oct. 26) and Bellevue University (Oct. 27). Viterbo will host Mayville State (Oct. 26) and Presentation College (Oct. 27).