VALLEY CITY, N.D. (VCSUVikings.com) – The Valley City State volleyball team started out strong Friday night but dropped a hard-fought effort against No. 8 Bellevue University in Graichen Gym. The Vikings fell 3-0 in the match with final scores of 25-23, 25-18 and 25-12.
Valley City State falls to 11-14 overall and 6-3 in the North Star. Bellevue improves to 18-5 overall and 8-2 in the conference.
Sadie Hansen paced the Vikings with a double-double Friday, totaling 11 digs and 26 set assists for VCSU.
Bailey Nelson led the Viking attack with 11 kills Friday. Nelson has now reached double figure kills in six of VCSU’s last seven games. Katie Juarez added seven kills and 12 digs, and Brooke Blessum finished with six kills. Kallene Klever added 12 digs for the Vikings.
Makayla Wetzel totaled four blocks (3 assists, 1 solo) and Caitlyn Fischbach added three assisted blocks for VCSU. Wetzel and Fischbach also tallied five kills each.
The Vikings started out strong and kept up with the nationally ranked Bruins early Friday night as the first set featured seven ties. VCSU tallied 18 kills and just two errors in the first set, but Bellevue came out on top with a pair of service aces that proved to be the difference in the 25-23 first set.
VCSU held onto its momentum in the second set, holding its sixth tie of the set at 16-16 on a Bailey Nelson kill. The Bruins then took a 5-1 run and prompted a Viking timeout. It wouldn’t be enough as Bellevue finished on a 4-1 run to win the second set 25-18.
The Bruins then took a 10-2 run midway through the third set en route to a 25-12 victory and a 3-0 sweep of the Vikings.
Bellevue totaled 44 kills in the match led by Eve Fountain who tallied 14 kills for the Bruins. Haley Fleischman added nine kills and Jacki Apel finished with seven.
Taylan Keefer led Bellevue’s defensive effort Friday with 21 digs while Olivia Galas added 16 digs and 29 set assists. Sierra Athen totaled four service aces of Bellevue’s seven aces total.
UP NEXT: Valley City State plays its last home game of the season against Dakota State Saturday at 11 a.m. in Graichen Gym.