From Viking Athletics (Zac Lucy Photography)

VALLEY CITY, N.D. (vcsuvikings.com) – The Valley City State volleyball team opened its conference season with a three-set sweep over Dickinson State Wednesday night in Graichen Gym.

The Vikings played consistently all night, defeating the Blue Hawks by final set scores of 25-16, 25-18 and 25-15.

“There was lot of emotion going on tonight. It’s super powerful to come in from last year where we would battle point for point with Dickinson. Tonight, we were in control and we went from start to finish to put 25 points together three times in a row,” said head coach Brigitte Greywater.

“I’m very proud of the team and saw the technical effort we have been working on. We played very confident, and we are going to keep seeing that the rest of the season,” she added.

VCSU improves to 5-7 overall and opens the NSAA schedule with a 1-0 record. Dickinson State drops to 2-12 overall and 0-1 in the North Star.

VCSU’s Morgan Nelson led the Vikings with 11 kills Wednesday on a .409 attack percentage. Bailey Nelson added eight kills Wednesday while Danielle Hagler and Emma Lucas each finished with six. Sadie Hansen led all players with 30 set assists in the match.

JayCee Richter tallied a team-best 17 digs and Delani Clarke added 10 digs and three aces for VCSU.

The Vikings held a 40-28 kill advantage and 5-0 advantage in service aces. The Blue Hawks also hit just .037 percent Wednesday night while committing 24 attack errors in the match.

Dickinson’s Jenna Swope tallied a game-high 25 digs Wednesday while Bailey Pearcy totaled 20 assists on the night. Katie Collum led the Blue Hawk offense with eight kills while Madi Wahl and McKenzie Moser each chipped in six.

UP NEXT: VCSU hosts a non-conference match Thursday night against Concordia College-Moorhead. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. in Graichen Gym