V-Hawks Secure a Pair of Road Sweeps

VALLEY CITY, N.D. – The Viterbo University Women's Volleyball team, ranked #6 in the most recent NAIA Top 25 Coaches Poll, secured a pair of North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) sweeps on the road this week. Viterbo topped Dickinson State (ND) 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-19), then bested Valley City State 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 28-26). The V-Hawks improve to 18-3 (5-0 NSAA) on the year, while the Blue Hawks fall to 1-15 (1-3 NSAA) and the Vikings sit at 15-4 (3-1 NSAA).

In the first match, Viterbo would build an early lead with the help of a Maddie Connor ace and a Jada Mitchell-Kenzie Winker block. DSU answered with a 6-0 run to take the 10-8 lead. The V-Hawks responded with a 6-1 run of their own, led by Winker's kills and two more Connor aces. Grace Peyron added a late kill, and Dickinson errors ended the set 25-19.

Early errors by the Blue Hawks gave Viterbo another lead to start the second. Martina McGrath added a pair of kills, but DSU would slowly build a 15-11 lead. Mitchell put down back-to-back kills to tie the match at 19-19. VU ended the set with a 6-2 run, including a kill by Grace Rohde and a Winker solo block for the win.

Dickinson would jump out to a 10-2 lead in the third, but Rohde's kills would pace the offense as they slowly mounted a comeback. Mitchell recorded two consecutive kills to cap a 6-0 run and a pair of errors tie the match at 19-19. Cailie Kowal had a pair of aces amidst a 9-0 run to end the set, while Winker recorded another solo block.

Mitchell led all players with 12 kills while hitting .417, while Rohde added nine. Connor dished out a game-high 26 assists, and Kenidi McCabe had 17 digs. Brooklyn Wyllie recorded five solo blocks for the Blue Hawks.

In the second match of the week, Mitchell and Winker led the offense early in the opening set, and Rohde's kill brought the score to 15-6. Valley City mounted a short comeback, closing the score to 15-10, but McGrath and Marissa Kleman's block turned the momentum back to the V-Hawks , and Mitchell would lead the offense as they captured a 25-15 win.

The second set would start closer, with seven ties by the time the score reached 10-10. Peyron and Mitchell combined for a block as the V-Hawks began to build a lead. Winker continued to pace the offense, Peyron recorded another block, this time with McGrath, and they V-Hawks rolled to another 25-15 win.

Viterbo started the third set up 5-0 with the help of a Connor ace and a Peyron kill. Mitchell had three straight kills to bring the score to 16-9, but the Vikings rallied, closing the gap to 18-17. A Connor-McGrath block ended the run, but the Vikings were still able to take the lead, 24-23. Winker recorded two clutch kills, and Kleman and McGrath combined for a block for the win, 28-26.

Winker recorded a game-high 15 kills to go with 12 digs, and Mitchell had 13 on .542 hitting. Rodhe had 17 digs,  Connor dished 28 assists, and McGrath had six blocks. Danielle Hagler had 15 kills for the Vikings, and Sadie Hanson had 31 assists.  

The V-Hawks return to action on Thursday, October 5 as they host Mayville State (ND).