VALLEY CITY, ND  (NewsDakota.com)  A change in the NSAA tournament schedule will have the Vikings beginning their title run Friday.

Valley City State will host Dickinson State in the opening round the final NSAA conference tournament Friday night at the W. E. Osmon Fieldhouse.

The Vikings finished the season in fourth place in the conference, tied for third with Dakota State, but behind in the tiebreaker.  Dickinson State finished fifth.  Valley City State swept both matches in the regular season with the Bluehawks.

Tournament play was set to open on Saturday, but the Viking home football matchup with Dickinson State forced an alteration to the schedule.  The other first-round matchup will send Mayville State to Dakota State.

Friday’s winner will play #1 Bellevue at Bellevue University Friday, November 15th.  Bellevue earned the top seed with point-differential tiebreakers University of Jamestown.  The Jimmies will play the Mayville State-Dakota State winner at Bellevue University on November 15th in the other semi-final matchup.

The conference champion receives an automatic national tournament bid, however, both UJ and Bellevue, with national rankings of fourth and sixth, respectively, will qualify for nationals.  Dakota State has been receiving votes in the national poll, a spot that the Vikings were in a year ago when they qualified.  However, with the Trojans being beaten by Valley City State last week in four sets, Monday’s poll will be key to their post-season hopes.