VALLEY CITY, ND (VCSUVikings.com) It was a tough start to a lengthy road for the Viking volleyball team.
The Vikings fell in four sets at Montana State University-Northern Friday, the dropped a three-set decision at fifth-ranked University of Providence Saturday afternoon.
The Vikings will stay in Montana until their next matchups, which are Wednesday at Rocky Mountain in Billings, then Thursday at Carroll College in Helena.
Montana State-Northen 3, VCSU 0
The Skylights won 27-29, 25-22, 25-14, 25-20 on Friday night in Havre, Montana.
The Vikings overcame a big comeback by MSU-Northern to take the first set. The set was back-and-forth early with neither team taking control. There were three ties and three lead changes in the first ten points. An unforced error by the Skylights gave Valley City State a point to tie the set at 5-5. That started the Vikings on a 12-4 run to take seven-point lead. A service ace by Annika Pulju capped the run and made the score 16-9 Valley City State. The Skylights would go on a 14-7 run to tie the set. An unforced error by VCSU made the score 23-23. The two teams would split the next seven points. A kill by Danielle Hagler would make the score 27-27 and start a 3-0 set ending run by Valley City State. A kill by Eden Carrier would end the set with the Vikings up 29-27.
The second set was again back-and -forth like set one. There were five ties and five lead changes in the first 22 points. An attack error by MSU-Northern’s Lexi Jones gave the Vikings a 12-11 lead. Another attack error by the Skylights gave VCSU its biggest lead of the set at 15-12. A 5-1 run by MSU-Northern tied the set at 15. The set would be tied six more times before the Skylights pulled away. A kill by Morgan Freije made it 20-19 Vikings. MSU-Northern would score six of the last eight points, including five in a row, to win the set 25-20.
The Skylights would carry that momentum into the third set when they jumped out to a 9-2 lead. A service ace by Pulju got the Vikings to within 14-11 but that was as close as they would get the rest of the way. MSU-Northern ended the set on an 11-3 run to take the set 25-14.
In the final set, Danielle Hagler’s kill gave Valley City State a 2-1 lead. That was the last lead they would have. Then Skylights scored the next three points to take a 4-2 lead. The Vikings would come back a tie it at 10-10 on another Hagler kill. But a 6-2 run by Montana State-Northern would make it 16-12. The Vikings would cut it to 23-20, but the Skylights scored the last two points to take the set 25-20, and the match 3-1.
The Vikings were paced by Danielle Hagler’s career high 19 kills and a .357 hitting percentage. Macy Fridgen had eight kills, Morgan Freije had seven, and Emma Lucas had six. Gracie Schumacher and Madden Bogenreif each had double-doubles. Schumacher had 20 assists and ten digs. Bogenreif had 19 assists and eleven digs. JayCee Richter had a team high 25 digs and Delani Clarke had 13. Hagler and Rosie Anderson each had three blocks (1 solo, 2 assist).
University of Providence 3, VCSU 0
Valley City State held a brief lead in the first set before Providence took control of the set and the match in a 3-0 loss to the fifth ranked Argos on Saturday. Providence won 25-11, 25-10, 25-21.
Danielle Hagler picked up where she left off on Friday with a kill on the opening volley, giving the Vikings a 1-0 lead. They would lose the lead briefly, then get it back when Morgan Freije and Rosie Anderson combined for a block, making the score 4-3 VCSU. The Argos would then go on a 15-3 run, including eight points in a row, to take control and lead 18-7. Back-to-back kills by Emma Lucas would cut the Argos lead to 18-9. Providence would then end the set on a 7-2 run to take the set 25-11.
The second set all Providence after a Macy Fridgen kill for the Vikings tied the set at 1-1. The Argos would then score the next twelve points to take a 13-1 lead. A kill by Morgan Freije capped a 4-1 mini run for Valley City State to cut the lead to 14-5. The lead stayed between ten and twelve points until Providence would end the set with a 5-2 run to win 25-10.
The Vikings scored the first two points of the third set to take the early 2-0 lead. Providence would then go on a 5-1 run to take the lead at 5-3. The Vikings would take the lead back with a 5-0 run. Hagler had two kills in the run and JayCee Richter had a service ace. With Valley City State up 8-5, Providence took a timeout. The two teams began exchanging points, with neither team able to take control of the set. After that time out, there were three ties and one lead change. Providence would take the lead on a Sadie Giles kill that made it 15-14 Argos. Valley City State got to within one point five times but were never able to retake the lead. Providence would end set on a 4-1 to win 25-21.
Morgan Freije led Valley City State with nine kills and a 450 hitting percentage. Danielle Hagler had eight kills, Macy Fridgen had six, Emma Lucas had four, and Ellie Lucas had two. Gracie Schumacher and Madden Bogenreif both had 13 assists and seven digs. JayCee Richter had 19 digs while Delani Clarke had 12. Hagler had a team high two blocks, both block assists.
Valley City falls to 3-7 overall and 1-4 in the Frontier Conference. Providence is now 12-1 overall and 5-0 in the conference.