Valley City Beats Dakota State in Conference Match

Valley City State Vikings came to the DSU Fieldhouse to play Dakota State where they would earn a 3-1 victory with scores of 25-23, 20-25, 25-21 and 25-22. The Trojans lost their fifth straight match and their overall record dropped to 5-18. Valley City State’s record improved to 11-17. Both teams are tied for 3rd in the NSAA conference standing with a 2-3 record.

While trailing 17-12 in the opening set, Dakota State rallied back by scoring seven straight points to earn a 19-17 lead. The Vikings answered back by outscoring the Trojans 7-1 earning a 24-20 lead. An attack error would give the Vikings the win with a score of 25-23. Valley City held a 13-12 lead in the second set before the Trojans made another scoring run and outscored the Vikings 10-4 to earn the second set’s biggest lead at 22-15. DSU secured the second set 25-20 evening the match at 1-1. As the Trojans were behind 17-15 in the third set, DSU went on a 5-0 streak to earn a 20-17 lead. The Vikings would rally back by outscore DSU 8-1 claiming the third set with a score of 25-21 to make their lead 2-1.The Vikings and Trojans would battle through the fourth set and at 21-21, VCSU won the match by having a 4-1 scoring run making the score 25-22.

Caitlin Pick and Brittney Anderson of Dakota State each recorded double digits in kills. Pick had the most with 16 kills. Anderson had 10 kills for the Trojans. Tessa Weeldreyer added 6 kills. Freshman Haley Hillestad had 5 kills. Stacey Schuller had a double-double with 18 set assists and 11 digs. Kaylee Vander Wal had 13 assists for DSU. Katherine Gonzalez recorded a match-high 26 digs for the Trojans. Kelci Viesselman, Taylor Stratton, Stacey Schuller, and Jessica McKenney each had a service ace. Hillestad had four block assists.