FOREST CITY, IOWA – The Valley City State volleyball team dropped a hard-fought conference battle in five sets Friday, 25-21, 21-25, 25-23, 18-25, 15-13.
Katie Juarez led the Vikings with a team-high 13 kills, nine digs, and five service aces, while Bailey Nelson added 11 kills Friday. Maara Nelson and Dani Schwanke each posted 16 digs to lead the defensive effort while sophomore Caitlyn Fischbach recorded eight total blocks for the Vikings.
Kallene Klever tallied 23 set assists while Jakenda Short added 15 assists.
Valley City State falls to 4-11 overall and 3-4 in conference play. Waldorf improves to 3-9 overall and earned its first conference victory Friday as the Warriors are 1-7 in the NSAA.
The first set went back-and-forth as neither team led by more than four points, which came at the end of the set as Waldorf finished with a 25-21 win.
The second set found the Vikings and Warriors tied at 8-8 when VCSU started to pull away with four straight points, capped by an ace from Maara Nelson. With the Vikings leading 24-18, Waldorf closed the gap to 24-21 on a pair of aces from Kaylee Kidd, but the Vikings finished with the win, 25-21.
The third set went back-and-forth again as neither team led by more than three points throughout the set. A kill from Clara Wieland kept the Vikings in it as they trailed 24-23, and Waldorf’s Abygail Wood finished with a kill to take the third set for Waldorf, 25-23.
Midway through the fourth set, Valley City State used three straight Waldorf errors to pull away. The Vikings later took a 7-3 Viking rally capped by a kill from Maara Nelson to outlast the Warriors in the fourth set, 25-18.
The Vikings started out strong in the final set, leading 7-4 when a service error gave the Warriors seven straight points. A big kill from Bailey Nelson sparked a 6-2 Viking rally to tie it up at 13-all. Waldorf put it away with back-to-back kills to take the set 15-13.
Kenzie Kidd led the Warriors with 16 kills, 18 digs, and four service aces Friday while Charlotte Wright added 11 kills and Abygail Wood recorded 10. Kaitlyn Bakke recorded 52 set assists for Waldorf. Trinity Perez led the Waldorf defense with 21 digs.
UP NEXT: Valley City State takes on Viterbo University on Saturday at 12 p.m.