VALLEY CITY, N.D. (VCSUVikings.com) – The Viking Volleyball team dropped its regular season finale Saturday afternoon, falling in four sets to Presentation College on Viking Senior Day.
Valley City State won set one, 25-19, but the Saints came back to win 25-23, 25-19 and 26-24 to finish off the match.
Valley City State drops to 14-14 overall and 7-7 in the NSAA. Paired with Dakota State’s upset win against Viterbo University, Saturday’s loss will drop the Vikings to the No. 4 seed for the NSAA Tournament next weekend in La Crosse, Wis. The Vikings face No. 5 seed Mayville State in the first round on Friday at 12 p.m. The winner will play top seed Viterbo University in the semifinals that night at 7 p.m.
Presentation College improved to 12-17 overall and 4-10 in the NSAA with Saturday’s win. The Saints finish the season seventh in the NSAA standings and do not qualify for the six-team NSAA Tournament.
The Vikings started hot Saturday afternoon in Valley City, hitting .270 in the opening set as they took control of the match with a 25-19 victory. Set two narrowly went to the Saints as they hit .171 and had 14 kills in a 25-23 victory.
Presentation College hit .184 in set three and took advantage of nine Viking attacking errors for a 25-19 victory. Set four was tight throughout before the Saints secured the match with a 26-24 win.
Senior Autumn Johnson led the Viking attack with a career-high 17 kills Saturday. Hailie Wilds and Charlotte Huschka each had 19 digs. Setters Leah Ruter and Reagan Ingstad both posted double-doubles. Ruter finished with 26 assists, 11 digs and seven kills while Ingstad had 13 assists and 14 digs.
Neither team served exceptionally well in the match. Valley City State had four service aces and 15 errors while Presentation College had six aces and 11 digs. VCSU hit .139 in the match while the Saints hit .138. Both teams finished with six block points.
Jade Gallagher tallied 14 kills to lead Presentation College. Kayla Wolfe added eight kills and Evy Peterson finished with seven. Setter Maddie Goetz had 19 assists and 12 digs, while Presentation’s libero Joely Roe finished with a match-high 36 digs.
Saturday was Senior Day for VCSU as the Vikings honored their four seniors: Autumn Johnson, Clarissa Olson, Leah Ruter and Hailie Wilds.
Up next: Valley City State will prep for the NSAA Tournament, which will be played next weekend in La Crosse, Wis.