VALLEY CITY – Waldorf University scored seven of the last eight points in the conference opener as they took the five-set thriller from Valley City State 19-25, 25-21, 25-18, 11-25, 15-9.
Frequent momentum changes and inconsistency became Valley City State’s demise in the home loss.
In front of a full home crowd, Valley City State started out strong hitting .318 to Waldorf’s .115 in the first set. A Reagan Ingstad service ace secured the win for the Vikings 25-19.
The second set started out close but back-to-back service aces by Waldorf’s Kyra Platzek started an 8-3 run for the Warriors. The Vikings couldn’t come back as they committed nine errors in set two, falling 25-21.
Nine more errors by Valley City State in set three allowed the Warriors to take the next set 25-18.
Valley City State took an early 10-3 lead in set four as they battled to stay alive in the match. The Vikings maintained their momentum as they did not commit an error in the set, securing the win 25-11.
Waldorf came out hot in set five taking an early 8-3 lead. A Warrior service error allowed the Vikings to rally back to tie the game at 8-8. Waldorf then took seven of the last eight points to secure the win for the Warriors.
Valley City State was led by Katie Juarez who tallied 15 kills and two solo blocks on Friday night. Alexa Walby and Reagan Ingstad each recorded 16 assists while Ingstad also added two service aces.
Viking senior libero Charlotte Huschka recorded 20 digs to lead the Viking defense and reached a milestone mark of 1,000 career digs Friday night.
Waldorf was led by Kyra Platzek who tallied 14 kills and four service aces. Savanna Cordie added 11 kills. Elisabeth Tramm recorded 31 assists for the Warriors and added two service aces.
Three Warriors tallied double-digit digs led by Kelsey Senderquest with 16, while Adreanna Vetter recorded 14, and Tramm added 12.
Valley City State falls to 4-7 overall and 0-1 in the NSAA. Waldorf improves to 7-6 overall and 1-0 in the NSAA.
UP NEXT: Valley City State hosts No. 6 Viterbo University Saturday, Sept. 21st at 2 p.m. in Graichen Gym.