Helena MT – Valley City wrapped up its long Montana road trip on Thursday night with a 3-0 loss to Carroll College. The Fighting Saints won 25-17, 25-19, 25-20.

Valley City State is now 4-8 overall and 2-5 in the conference. Carroll is 9-6 overall and 4-3 in the conference.

Carroll led most of the way in the first set. Valley City tied it at 2-2 with a block from Molly Bjorneby and Danielle Hagler. The Saints would go on a 6-0 run to take the lead 8-2. A kill by Rosie Anderson got the Vikings to within five at 11-6. Carroll College came back with a 6-1 run to lead 17-7. The Vikings would battle back with a 9-2 run capped off by Bjorneby kill that made the score 19-16. An Emma Lucas kill made it 20-17, but the Saints would score the last five point of the set to win 25-17.

Set two was close most of the way. Carroll College jumped out to a 4-1 lead, only to see the Vikings go on a 6-1 run to take a two-point lead. Back-to-back unforced errors by the Saints gave Valley City State a 7-5 lead. Valley City State would take the lead at 9-8 but the Saints answered again with a 7-1 run capped off by a Lauren Heuiser service ace. Valley City State would again comeback, this time with a 5-2 run to cut the lead to two. A block by Macy Fridgen and Morgan Freije would make it 17-15 Carroll College. The Saints would end the set on a 7-3 run, including four straight points to take the set 25-19.

Carrol led from beginning to end in the third set. The Saints started the set on a 5-1 run. Kills by Macy Fridgen and Morgan Freije made the score 5-4 and 6-5 respectively. A kill by Bjorneby made it 9-7 Carroll College. The Saints would go on a 7-2 run to take a 16-9 lead. Valley City State would go on a 6-1 run to make it 17-15 Carroll College. A 5-1 run by the Saints would give them a 24-18 lead. A couple unforced errors by Carroll College made it 24-20. A kill by the Saints’ Elizabeth Heuiser ended the 25-20 and the match 3-0.

Senior Macy Fridgen led VCSU with 13 kills and two blocks. Molly Bjorneby had a career high seven kills. Morgan Freije had six kills and Emma Lucas had five. Madden Bogenreif had 16 assists while Gracie Schumacher added eleven. The defense was led by JayCee Richter with 18 digs, Delani Clarke had 13, and Bogenreif had seven. Freije had three blocks (1 solo, 2 assist), Fridgen had two (1 solo, 1 assist).

UP NEXT: Valley City State will host two matches during homecoming. Bismarck State College on Thursday and Dickinson State on Friday. Both matches start at 7:00 p.m. at the Bubble.