VALLEY CITY – Valley City State couldn’t hold on as they fell in a four-game conference match against No. 6 Viterbo University 25-16, 25-22, 20-25, 25-19.
The Vikings scored the first five points of the match to take an early lead in set one, including a pair of Morganne Eppard service aces. After reaching a tie game 9-9, the V-Hawks took a 7-1 run that the Vikings never came back from as they fell in set one 25-16.
Set two featured eight ties and five lead changes as the two NSAA teams battled for the win. The Vikings’ largest lead came at 20-16 until a Maya Roberts kill ignited the V-Hawks to take an 11-2 run and led to a Viterbo win 25-22.
The third set was another fight for victory as there were seven ties throughout. The final tie came at 19-19 when a Viterbo service error allowed the Vikings to take six of the next seven points for the win 25-20.
The fourth set found the V-Hawks on fire as they hit .333 and tallied 17 kills in the set. After a Valley City State lead at 9-8, Viterbo found their fire. A pair of Maya Roberts kills and a pair of Adrianna Reinhart aces contributed to a 9-2 run for Viterbo. The V-Hawks continued their momentum to take the final set 25-19.
The Viking defense was led by Morganne Eppard who tallied 23 digs for the Vikings while Kylie Erickson added 10.
Eppard stepped in to the libero spot due to the injury to Charlotte Huschka and Head Coach Adam Longmore says she a great job in a new role.
Katie Juarez led the Viking offense with 11 kills, while Ellie Winter tallied nine, and Caitlyn Fishbach added eight.
Reagan Ingstad contributed 21 assists while Alexa Walby recorded 16.
Viterbo was led by Maya Roberts who hit .517 and recorded 17 kills and three blocks.
Sophomore Lauren Sobasky had a great game all-around as she added 18 assists, nine digs and three service aces for the V-Hawks.
Abbey Johnson contributed team-high 25 assists for the V-Hawks while libero Rachel Frankowski tallied 18 digs for the V-Hawks.
Valley City State falls to 4-8 overall and 0-2 in the NSAA. Viterbo improves to 15-3 overall and 2-0 in the NSAA.
Coach Longmore says this should be a confidence boost for his players.
UP NEXT: Valley City State is on the road next weekend to play at Dakota State University on Friday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. On Saturday, Sept. 20, the Vikings travel to No. 14 Bellevue University to face the Bruins at 2 p.m.