#7 V-Hawks win 12th Straight, Reinhart sets Career High

VALLEY CITY, ND – The Viterbo University Women's Volleyball team, ranked #7 in the most recent NAIA Top 25 Coaches Poll, claimed a 3-1 victory (23-25, 25-17, 25-12, 25-15) at Valley City State University on Friday night. The V-Hawks improve to 25-6 (12-0 NSAA) and the Vikings drop to 8-16 (3-8 NSAA).

The opening set started close, with seven ties by the time the score reached 10-10, and the V-Hawks were paced by kills by Grace Rohde and blocks from Jada Mitchell, Martina McGrath, and Kenzie Winker in that time. Valley City used a 6-1 run to take control of the game, but Mariah Calkins stopped the run with a kill from Lauryn Sobaksy, followed by a Marissa Kleman kill and Kenidi McCabe ace. Viterbo got back within one, 16-17, on a Winker solo block before the Vikings went back up 23-20. The V-Hawks kept it interesting, bringing the score to 23-24, but Bailey Nelson's kill ended the set in the Vikings' favor.

Valley City kept that momentum to start the second set, getting up 6-0 early. Rohde finally got the V-Hawks on the board with a Sobasky-assisted kill. Mitchell, Winker, and Rohde each contributed kills to fuel the V-Hawks come back, bringing the score to 12-12. After a Viking timeout, Viterbo continued their run to get up 17-13, helped by a Sobasky ace and Calkins-Rohde block. Nelson was in on consecutive blocks for Valley City, but errors and kills from Winker set the V-Hawks up 24-17 and a Mitchell-Rohde block evened the match 1-1.

The beginning of the third set was all V-Hawks, with Viterbo going up 13-1, including three aces from McCabe, a kill from Sobasky, and Rohde-Calkins block. While the Vikings would begin to score, kills from Mitchell, Kleman and Calkins would pace the V-Hawks, keeping a 10+ point cushion. McCabe had another late ace, and Cailie Kowal set up Mitchell from the set-winning kill.

Viterbo opened the fourth set just as strongly as the previous, as McCabe's kill put them up 7-0, and Adrianna Reinhart's ace and assist to Mitchell brought the score to 12-1. Kowal had back-to-back assists set up Mitchell to go up 16-2. Valley City did put together a 7-1 run late, but the rally would not be enough, as Grace Peyron's kill put the V-Hawks up 24-15, and Reinhart's ace ended the set and match .

Winker led all players with 19 kills, while Rohde (13) and Mitchell (10) each contributed double-digits as well. Sobasky matched a game-high 32 assists and Kowal posted 16. Reinhart set a new career-high with 42, and Mitchell had five blocks. McCabe also recorded five aces.

Danielle Hagler led the Vikings with 13 kills, Sadie Hansen had 32 assists, JayCee Richter recorded 24 digs, and Morgan and Bailey Nelson each had four blocks.

The V-Hawks wrap up regular season play on Friday at Dakota Stat (SD) and Saturday at #16 Bellevue (Neb.).