DICKINSON, N.D. (VCSUVikings.com) – The Valley City State volleyball team accomplished new feats Saturday despite dropping both of its games on the second day of the DSU Crossover tournament.
Senior Katie Juarez collected her first career triple-double against UM-Western, finishing with 15 kills, 14 digs and 11 service aces in the game. In addition, freshman Sadie Hansen set a new career-high with 41 set assists in a five-set battle against MSU-Northern and later broke her career-high with 42 set assists against UM-Western.
The Vikings fell to Montana State University-Northern in five sets with final scores of 25-20, 23-25, 26-24, 21-25 and 15-9. VCSU then dropped its second game of the day to University of Montana-Western in four sets, 22-25, 25-19, 25-22 and 25-23.
Valley City State drops to a 2-9 record overall. The Vikings travel back to Dickinson State on Sept. 15 for the conference opener at 7 p.m. CDT. Dickinson State has opened its season with a 0-13 record.
MSU-Northern 3, VCSU 2
Freshman Sadie Hansen paced the Vikings with 41 set assists 16 digs, four kills and four service aces but it wasn’t enough as MSU-Northern took the five-set victory Saturday.
Three Vikings added double-figure kills to fuel the Viking attack including Katie Juarez (13), Bailey Nelson (13) and Caitlyn Fischbach (12). Juarez added 18 digs and Kallene Klever finished with a team-high 29 digs for VCSU.
Montana State-Northern built up a 21-14 lead in the first set when a block by Juarez sent the Vikings on a six-point rally to get within a point. The Northern Lights then scored the next four points to seal the first set, 25-20.
The two teams kept things close in the second set, holding nine ties throughout, including the final tie at 23-23. A bad set by MSU-Northern gave the Vikings set-point and a Juarez kill put it away to take the 25-23 Viking win.
Valley City State held a 22-17 lead in the third set, but the Northern Lights finished the set with a 9-2 run to seal the 26-24 victory over the Vikings.
The fourth set was close most of the way yet again. A pair of kills from Bailey Nelson helped the Vikings score four of the last five points to take the set 25-21.
Both teams fought for the final set early on, but four straight kills from Northern’s Rylee Burmester gave the Northern Lights a 12-7 advantage. The Vikings wouldn’t recover as MSU-Northern took the final set 15-9.
UM-Western 3, VCSU 1
Katie Juarez led the Vikings with a triple-double in VCSU’s second game of the day, tallying 15 kills, 14 digs and 11 service aces. Bailey Nelson added 14 kills at the net for VCSU and Caitlyn Fischbach added nine kills and a pair of blocks.
Hansen broke her previous career-high set earlier Saturday with 42 set assists against UM-Western. She also added 15 digs for her fifth double-double of the season. Kallene Klever finished with 19 digs and Anne-Elise Gest totaled 12 digs for VCSU.
Valley City State led by as much as five points early in the first set after a pair of kills from Bailey Nelson made it 11-6. Montana-Western answered with six straight points to tie the game. The Vikings began to pull away with a 6-0 run including a pair of Juarez service aces to lead 23-18. A kill from Sadie Hansen gave the Vikings a 25-22 victory in set one.
Montana-Western hit .432 in the second set and tallied 20 kills en route to a 25-19 victory over the Vikings.
Montana-Western paced most of the fourth set, but the Vikings took a 6-1 rally capped by a kill from Morgan Nelson to hold a 22-22 tie late in the game. The Bulldogs finished with three straight points to take the third set, 25-22.
Valley City State opened the fourth set strong, taking an early 15-11 lead on an ace from Juarez. From there, Montana-Western took an 8-1 run to lead 19-16. The Vikings wouldn’t come back as the Bulldogs finished the set 25-23.
The Vikings fall to 2-9 on the year and are in action next on Wednesday at 7:00 against Dickinson State who currently has a winless record of 0-13.