Regular Season Finale Sweep Completes Undefeated Conference Season

LA CROSSE, Wis. – The Viterbo University Women's Volleyball team, ranked #5 in the most recent NAIA Top 25 Coaches Poll, fresh off secreting their third straight North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) regular season title, swept (RV) Valley City State 3-0 (26-24, 25-18, 25-13) to finish the regular season undefeated in regular season play. The V-Hawks finish the year 28-4 (12-0 NSAA), while the Vikings end 22-8, 8-4 NSAA).

After an early ace from Maddie Connor and kill by Grace Rohde, the V-Hawks put together a 6-1 run to jump out to a 9-4 lead in the first. Valley City would fight back, tying the match at 14-14 and then took the lead after two Reagan Bogenreif aces. The Vikings continued to build on their lead, reaching match point, 24-21, but Kenzie Winker's kill gave the momentum back to Viterbo, and a Kenidi McCabe ace followed by two more Winker kills gave Viterbo the win, 26-24, on a clutch 5-0 run.

After VCSU got up 4-2 to start the second Winker scored three points in a 4-0 run for the lead, and two more from her with a pair of Viking errors brought the score to 11-6. Bailey Nelson stopped the bleeding for Valley City, but a Rohde kill and Viking errors gave the V-Hawks a seven points advantage, 17-10. VCSU did not give up, scoring four straight. The rally was not enough, however, as Winker stayed hot with three more late kills, and an ace after a Martina McGrath-Sadie Tretow block for the 25-18 win.

Valley City build a small lead again to start the third, but again it wasn't enough as McGrath's kill started a 5-0 run to put Viterbo back up 10-7, and Mitchell put down a kill, followed by a Marissa Kleman-assisted block to extend the lead to 15-10. Winker's kill at 17-12 started the final run of the match, as Viterbo scored nine of the final 10 points, including Rohde scoring the final five.

Winker led all players with 20 kills on .475 hitting, while Rohde added 14 while hitting .452. Connor dished 17 assists, while Cailie Kowal had 16 with 12 digs. Rohde's 13 digs secured a double-double, while McCabe had a team-high 15 digs. Bailey Nelson had 13 kills for VCSU, while Sadie Hansen had a match-high 30 assists.

The V-Hawks will be the #1 seed in the NSAA Conference Tournament in Watertown, SD, earning them a first-round bye. Their first match will be in the semifinals on Friday, November 10.