VCSU Volleyball Falls to MSU-Northern in Season Opener

Posted By: Ricky Klaverkamp
August 22, 2022 @ 7:58 am
Sports

VCSU (Valley City, ND) – The Valley City State University volleyball team fell to Montana State University-Northern in four close sets Thursday by final scores of 25-23, 25-22, 23-25 and 25-20.

The Vikings were led by senior outside hitter Bailey Nelson who recorded 17 kills and three service aces. Sophomore Sadie Hansen added 25 set assists and 17 digs for VCSU while freshman Delani Clarke added 18 assists and 18 digs in her college debut.

MSU-Northern opens the season 1-0 while Valley City State starts 0-1 on the season. The Vikings and Skylights will rematch later this season when VCSU travels to Havre, Mont. for the Frontier/North Star Crossover Tournament on Sept. 9-10.

Valley City State’s young squad proved to be competitive Thursday, holding 23 ties and 13 lead changes throughout the match. VCSU totals seven freshmen on its roster and five received significant playing time Thursday.

In addition to Clarke, freshmen libero JayCee Richter tallied 18 digs and Emma Lucas added 11 kills for the Vikings. Danielle Hagler totaled a team-best five assisted blocks and five kills, and right side Morgan Freije finished with three kills and two assisted blocks. Returning sophomore Lexi Leroux added nine digs for VCSU.

MSU-Northern took the first set 25-23 after only committing two errors throughout the set. The Vikings then struggled to find their footings in set two, committing 13 errors and falling 25-22. VCSU trailed 17-14 early in set three and used a 6-3 run to help the comeback effort and win 25-23.

VCSU trailed again 18-12 in the fourth set but worked to close the gap, taking a 5-1 rally including a pair of kills from Morgan Nelson. The Skylights held on, finishing the game on a block from Emily Feller and Alana Graves.

Skylights Jessalyn Chviliceck and Alana Graves each tallied double figure kills and libero Kaitlin Murdock totaled a game-high 23 digs Thursday. Emily Feller added 26 set assists and 14 digs while Macee Murphy finished with 18 assists and 12 digs for the Skylights. MSU-Northern totaled 11 blocks as a team.

UP NEXT: VCSU travels to Sioux City, Iowa next weekend to compete in the Briar Cliff Invite on Aug. 26-27. Livestream and stats will be available for all games.