Viterbo Dominates Conference Opener vs. Waldorf

FOREST CITY, Iowa – The Viterbo University Women's Volleyball team, ranked #9 in the 2022 NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, traveled to Iowa to take on the Waldorf University Warriors in their conference season opener. The V-Hawks dominated in three sets, (26-24, 25-19, 25-23).

Viterbo started off set one hot 3-1 with a service ace by Kenidi McCabe followed with a kill by Kenzie Winker. The two teams traded points until a couple errors by Viterbo led to a V-Hawk timeout. Viterbo came back on the court strong earning three points in a row with the score at 10-9. The Warriors answered back with two kills by Kenzie Kidd and one by Zoee Pond, Waldorf leading 13-16. Each team traded a couple volleys and Viterbo went on to gain back the lead 18-17 with three errors by Waldorf and a kill by freshman Jada Mitchell. Set one stayed close to the finish. An attack error by the Warriors helped Viterbo gain the lead 25-24 followed with a service ace by Taylor Larson to give the V-Hawks the victory 26-24.

Set two started with two kills by Viterbo from Kenzie Winker and Mariah Calkins. Two errors by Viterbo shortly after tied the game 3-3. A service ace by Viterbo's Maddie Connor brought the V-Hawks in the lead 6-4. Waldorf answered back putting up four points in a row leading to a V-Hawk timeout. Viterbo came back out on the floor with a service ace by setter Lauryn Sobasky, tying the score 8-8. The teams traded points until two kills by Viterbo and a service ace by Cailie Kowal helped the V-Hawks take the lead 13-11. Waldorf came back with a service ace by Kenzie Kidd to tie the set 14-14. Viterbo gained back the lead scoring four points in a row with a kill by Winker and three errors by the Warriors leading to a timeout by Waldorf with the score at 23-17. With both teams back on the floor, Viterbo produced two errors followed with an error by the Warriors and a kill by Martina McGrath to win it 25-19.

The third and final set of the night started with Waldorf taking the lead 5-3 with two kills by Pond and one by Kidd. The teams traded volleys before Viterbo went on a massive six-point streak with the help of a service ace by Taylor bringing the V-Hawks in the lead 10-7. After a timeout by Waldorf, Viterbo continued their lead with a solo block by Grace Rohde with a score of 14-9. The V-Hawks went on a 3-0 run to go up 17-12 but the Warriors would respond with a couple runs of their own to take the lead 19-20. Viterbo would come back to tie the score 22-22 with kills by Mitchell and Winker. The next two volleys would go to Viterbo followed with a timeout by Waldorf, 24-22. Rohde ended the third set with a kill bringing home the win for the V-Hawks 25-23.

Lauryn Sobasky and Cailie Kowal led Viterbo in assists with 21 and 18 respectively. Adrianna Reinhart had 10 total digs on the night. Jada Mitchell and Kenzie Winker led the team with 10 kills each. Martina McGrath put up 3 solo blocks for the V-Hawks.

Waldorf's Zoee Pond finished the night with 9 kills and 3 solo blocks. Kaitlyn Bakke led the team with 21 assists and Kaylee Kidd added 11 digs for the Warriors.

Viterbo finished the night with an overall record of 11-5 and conference record of 1-0. The V-Hawks will host the Dickinson State University Blue Hawks on Friday, September 23^rd at 6:00 PM CST.