VALLEY CITY, N.D. (VCSUVikings.com) – Valley City State and Mayville State went the distance Tuesday night as the Comet volleyball team played its way to a five-set victory over the Vikings.
Valley City State dominated set one, winning 25-16, but the Comets came back with close wins in sets two and three by scores of 25-22 and 29-27. In set four, VCSU again decisively outplayed the Comets en route to a 25-14 victory but Mayville State struck the last blow with a 15-10 win in the decisive set. The teams were tied 9-9 in the fifth set before Mayville State scored four straight points to go up 13-9. The Comets would finish the match with a big block by Cassidy Miller.
Mayville State improves to 18-15 overall and 4-9 in the North Star Athletic Association. VCSU drops to 14-13 overall and 7-6 in the NSAA. VCSU remains third in the NSAA standings, and can lock up the conference’s No. 3 seed with a win over Presentation College in Saturday’s regular season finale.
Mayville State entered the night in a three-way tie for sixth in the NSAA standings, which is the last spot to make the NSAA Postseason Tournament. With Tuesday’s victory, the Comets move a half-game ahead of Waldorf University and Presentation College for the sixth spot in the standings.
Clarissa Olson racked up 22 kills Tuesday night to lead the Vikings. The senior middle hit .463 in the match and added seven digs and seven total blocks. Freshman Katie Juarez had a big match as well for the Vikings, finishing with a double-double of 14 kills and 12 digs. She also added four aces and three blocks. Autumn Johnson tallied eight kills for the Vikings.
Leah Ruter finished with a team-high 37 assists for VCSU and also had four kills. Reagan Ingstad had a double-double with 16 assists and 15 digs, and Hailie Wilds led the defense with 31 digs in the match.
Buoyed by strong hitting performances in sets one and four, the Vikings outhit Mayville State .192 to .117, and had a 9-7 advantage in block points. The Vikings were more aggressive at the serving line, finishing with nine aces – including four by Juarez – and 15 serving errors. The Comets played it conservative in the serving game, finishing with two aces but no serving errors. It is the seventh time this season that Mayville State did not commit a serving error.
Victoria Johnson led Mayville’s attack with 16 kills and four blocks. Cassidy Miller totaled 10 kills while Hannah Bliss added eight. Jana Mehus led the Comets with 38 assists and added nine digs. Libero Jayden Warner finished with a match-high 39 digs to lead the Comet defense.
The Vikings and Comets have now split their two meetings this season, with the road team winning each contest.
Up next: Valley City State (14-13, 7-6 NSAA) hosts Presentation College in the regular season finale on Saturday at 3 p.m. It is also Senior Day for the Vikings. Mayville State closes out the regular season Thursday with a 7 p.m. road match at Dickinson State.