Bellevue, NE   (VCSU)  The Valley City State volleyball team split games Friday, losing a 3-1 battle to No. 25 Rocky Mountain College and defeating MidAmerica Nazarene 3-2.

The Vikings took the nationally ranked Battlin’ Bears to four sets but ultimately fell 25-22, 25-15, 21-25, 27-25. VCSU then followed up with a five-set victory over the Pioneers 25-16, 25-15, 22-25, 26-28, 15-13.

The Vikings move to 2-5 overall this season. Valley City State continues its road campaign Sept. 10-11 at the DSU Crossover tournament in Dickinson, N.D. VCSU will play two games against University of Montana-Western and two games against University of Montana-Northern at the tournament.

(25) Rocky Mountain 3, VCSU 1
The Vikings outhit the Battlin’ Bears in the match with a season-high 54 team kills to Rocky Mountain’s 47, but RMC’s 15 blocks were enough to take the 3-1 victory over the Vikings.

Valley City State trailed most of the first set, only tying things up at 16-16 on a kill from Makayla Wetzel. The Vikings stayed in the game and trailed just 22-21 on a kill from Katie Juarez but Rocky Mountain scored three of the next four points to take the first set, 25-22.

The Vikings kept up with Rocky Mountain to start the second set, trailing just 9-7 early on. Rocky Mountain took a 7-3 run to expand their lead and the Vikings would never recover, dropping the second set 25-15.

Valley City State found their momentum in the third set, hitting .283 and pounding 18 kills en route to a 25-21 win. Trailing 12-8, the Vikings took the next seven straight points capped by a kill from Ella Roaldson to lead 15-12. The Vikings extended their lead up to five points on a Morgan Nelson kill to make it 20-15. Ella Roaldson put away the third set with a final kill to win 25-21.

VCSU held an 18-14 lead in the fourth set when Rocky Mountain scored seven straight points to take a 21-18 advantage and force a Viking timeout. Trailing 24-20, VCSU’s Brooke Blessum and Caitlyn Fischbach blocked a Battlin’ Bear attack that sparked a four-point run to tie the game at 24-24. A service error gave Rocky Mountain a 25-24 lead, but a kill from Blessum kept the Vikings alive. From there, a kill and VCSU error gave Rocky Mountain the 27-25 win.

Three Vikings tallied double-figure kills including Katie Juarez who tallied 15, and Bailey Nelson and Caitlyn Fischbach who each recorded 10. Juarez added 12 digs for VCSU while Kallene Klever added a team-high 22 digs.

Sadie Hansen finished with 24 set assists and 16 digs Friday, and Ellie Rush added 19 assists.

VCSU 3, MidAmerica Nazarene 2
Valley City State took a 3-2 victory over MidAmerica Nazarene where the Vikings finished with a new season-high 67 kills and hitting .220 in the game.

The Vikings opened up strong in the first set with a 10-4 run capped by Roaldson kill from Ellie Rush. VCSU led by as much as 11 points at 20-9 on a Caitlyn Fischbach and Bailey Nelson block. The Vikings tallied 17 kills and just four attack errors to hit a season-high .342 to win the first set, 25-16.

Valley City State held a comfortable 11-7 lead early in the second set when back-to-back service aces from Jakenda Short sparked a 5-2 run to lead 16-9. After two Pioneer points, the Vikings took a 6-1 run to lead 22-12 on a Roaldson kill. Ellie Rush finished the set with a service ace to take the 25-15 victory.

Neither team led by more than two points in early stages of the third set until a Bailey Nelson kill sparked a four-point run for the Vikings to lead 14-10. The Pioneers brought it back within a point to trail 22-21 when a VCSU service error and three straight kills for MidAmerica Nazarene finished the 25-22 set in favor of the Pioneers.

The Vikings and Pioneers battled through the fourth set, but the Vikings finally took a 6-1 run sparked by a kill from Bailey Nelson to take a 23-17 lead. The Pioneers answered with an 8-1 rally of their own to take a 25-24 advantage. A kill from Juarez halted the Pioneer set point, and a kill from Sadie Hansen brought up set point for the Vikings. A pair of kills and a Viking error gave MidAmerica Nazarene the fourth set, 28-26.

MidAmerica Nazarene then jumped out to a 7-2 lead to open the fifth set. Valley City State made a comeback with eight of the next 10 points to lead 10-9. The two teams traded points until VCSU found back-to-back kills from Roaldson and Nelson to lead 14-12. Bailey Nelson finished with a kill to take the 15-13 set and 3-2 match.

Katie Juarez finished with a season-high 16 kills paired with 10 digs. Juarez has now recorded a double-double in kills and digs in five straight games.

Bailey Nelson added a season-high 14 kills and freshman Ella Roaldson finished with a career-high 13 kills and four blocks for VCSU. Brooke Blessum and Makayla Wetzel each tallied nine kills and Wetzel added four blocks Friday.

Sadie Hansen finished with 27 set assists and 12 digs for her third straight double-double. Ellie Rush finished with 24 assists, and Kallene Klever added 28 digs while Anne-Elise Gest finished with 14 digs for VCSU.