The Valley City State volleyball team competed at Northwestern’s Red Raider Invite on Friday and opened its season with a 3-0 sweep over Briar Cliff. The Vikings then fell to tournament-host No. 5 Northwestern in straight sets.
 
Bailey Nelson led the Viking offense on Friday with 21 kills while Morgan Freije added 14 kills for VCSU. The Vikings were fueled by 61 set assists from Sadie Hansen on the day. The Vikings open the season with a 1-1 overall record under first-year head coach Michelle Meiklejohn.
 
 “Overall I feel like we did a lot of good things today,” Meiklejohn said. “We are still tweaking our blocking and defense but it was nice to see our offense come alive in the win against Briar Cliff. We are looking forward to our games next weekend in Sioux City.”
 
The Vikings travel to Briar Cliff’s Charger Invite slated for Aug. 25-26. VCSU will face Mount Marty, Briar Cliff and Mount Mercy during the tournament.
 
VCSU 3, Briar Cliff 0
The Vikings opened the season with a clean sweep over Briar Cliff with final set scores of 27-25, 25-16 and 25-14.
 
The first set was closely matched until an Emma Lucas kill sparked a 6-point run for VCSU to hold a 24-20 advantage. Briar Cliff closed the gap and the teams traded points before the Vikings locked in the win with a kill from Bailey Nelson followed by a block by Morgan Freije and Mardi Scutchings.
 
VCSU pulled away with 10 of the final 11 points in set two – including four kills from Nelson – to win 25-15 and build a 2-0 advantage. The Vikings finished the sweep with a commanding lead early they wouldn’t give up en route to a 25-14 final set.
 
Sadie Hansen totaled 37 set assists in the season opener, helping senior outside hitter Bailey Nelson to 15 kills in the match. Emma Lucas and Morgan Freije each chipped in eight kills, and Freije added five blocks at the net. Mardi Scutchings added four kills and two blocks for VCSU.
 
Defensively, freshman Reagan Bogenreif tallied a team-high 14 digs while Hansen and JayCee Richter each posted 12 digs.
 
 
No. 5 Northwestern 3, VCSU 0
The No. 5 team in the nation then took a 3-0 victory over the Vikings after posting a .325 attack percentage and totaling 22 assisted blocks as a team. The Vikings couldn’t keep up with Northwestern and fell 25-17, 25-17 and 25-16.
 
The Vikings managed 33 kills in the match but wasn’t enough as Northwestern tallied 48 kills Friday. Northwestern’s Alysen Dexter posted 15 kills and Jazlyn De Haan added 14 kills to lead the Raiders.
 
Emma Lucas posted seven kills in the match to lead the Vikings. Nelson, Freije and Mardi Scutchings added six kills apiece, and Hansen finished with 24 set assists.
 
Bogenrief led the Viking defense with 13 digs while Richter and Delani Clarke each recorded 10.