SEWARD, NE (VCSUVikings.com)- VCSU Volleyball won their first match of the season Friday night and their weekend 2-2 at The Concordia College Bulldog Invite in Seward Nebraska. VCSU is now 2-6 overall this season. The Vikings are on the road Wednesday, Sept. 5, for a 7 p.m. match at Concordia College-Moorhead.
Friday Results
VCSU 3, Bethany College 1
Clarissa Olson had 14 kills and hit .464 to lead a balanced Viking attack in the victory. As a team, VCSU hit .231 for its best performance of the young season. Sophomore Paige Benson scored 13 kills in the match while junior Madison Brown totaled 12 kills. Senior Autumn Johnson came up with seven kills and three block points. Freshman Makayla Wetzel added four kills, 3.5 blocks and two aces.
Leah Ruter posted a team-high 28 assists and 12 digs while Reagan Ingstad had 18 assists and a team-high three aces. Leah Ruter led the Vikings with 12 digs.
VCSU outhit Bethany in the match, .231 to .128. The Vikings also held a 10-5 advantage in block points.
After losing set one, the Vikings were in danger of going down two sets as they trailed 23-21 in the second. VCSU would rally and score five of the final six points in the set though, getting a kill from Reagan Ingstad and an ace by Wetzel to win the set 26-24 and change the matches’ momentum.
Benedictine College 3, VCSU 1
The Vikings won set one, 26-24, and held a 23-22 lead in set two but were unable to hold off Benedictine University in Friday’s second match. Benedictine scored the final three points of the second set and went on to win the match in four sets: 24-26, 25-23, 28-26, 25-17.
VCSU hit .073 in the match, compared to .140 by Benedictine. VCSU had 11 blocks compared to just three by Benedictine. The Vikings had eight aces and 12 serving errors, while Benedictine posted only five aces and 13 errors.
Freshman Katie Juarez posted 10 kills and hit .220 to lead VCSU’s attack. Clarissa Olson and Madison Brown each had nine kills in the loss. Setters Leah Ruter and Reagan Ingstad both had double-doubles in the match. Ruter had 20 assists and 15 digs, while Ingstad totaled 14 assists and 14 digs.
Charlotte Huschka posted a season-high 29 digs to lead the defense. Juarez and Ingstad both served three aces, while Autumn Johnson and Clarissa Olsoncombined for eight of VCSU’s 11 block points.
Saturday Results
Concordia 3, VCSU 0
Host team Concordia University was tough to beat on their home court as they remained unbeaten on the season with a 25-13, 25-18, 25-22 win over VCSU.
The Vikings had a balanced attack in the match with six kills each by Paige Benson, Katie Juarez and Taylor Sargent. Leah Ruter had 16 assists, six digs and two aces, and Reagan Ingstad posted 10 assists and 13 digs. Autumn Johnsonhad a team-high four block assists.
Concordia outhit the Vikings, .296 to .009 and held a 10-4 advantage in blocking.
VCSU 3, University of St. Mary 1
The Vikings ended the weekend with a strong performance against the University of St. Mary (Kan.).
VCSU picked up a 3-1 victory to close out the tournament, 26-24, 25-15, 22-25, 25-15. VCSU outhit St. Mary’s .185 to .039 and held a 13-5 advantage in blocking. The Vikings served 12 aces compared to just five by St. Mary’s.
Senior Autumn Johnson led the Viking attack with a 12 kills and a .450 hitting percentage. Katie Juarez added nine kills, Paige Benson had seven, and McKinley Putnam posted six kills in the victory. Makayla Wetzel and Paige Benson combined for 13 block assists in the match.
Leah Ruter had a team-high 18 assists and both her and Wetzel served three aces. Charlotte Huschka led the defense with 15 digs and Hailie Wilds added eight.