Dickinson, ND- Blue Hawk volleyball falls to Valley City State University in five sets.
On Monday, October 15th, the Valley City Vikings traveled to Dickinson to take on the DSU Blue Hawks. In the first set, the Blue Hawks tied the match 17-17, but never did come back losing the set 20-25. In the second set the Vikings dominated and the Blue Hawks went down 0-2. The third set was all Blue Hawks. The Blue Hawks led by nine early and just continued to soar after that. The Hawks won the match 25-14. The fourth set the Blue Hawks took an early lead, but the Vikings tied it up 8-8. The Blue Hawks would regain the lead and would maintain it for the rest of the match winning 25-21. Going into the fifth, the Blue Hawks would fall to a 1-5 deficit, only to score the next four tying the match 5-5. The Blue Hawks up 12-10, but the Vikings would again tie the match 12-12. A kill from Vikings Paige Benson would complete the match, and the Blue Hawks would lose the set 13-15.
On offense, junior right side hitter Ellie Hanser led the way with fifteen kills hitting an 0.225 on the night. Right behind her was senior outside hitter Kylie Hadley with thirteen kills hitting an 0.194 on the night. Kennedy Hildebrand added another six kills and Alyssa Wisher had five. Keera Stookey had twenty-six assists and Karlie Cleveland had thirteen. From the serving line, Kadara Marshall had three aces and Makenzie Digesualdo had two.
On defense, senior libero Makenzie Digesualdo had twenty-five digs. Kylie Hadley had twelve, and Keera Stookey had eleven. Freshman, Jenna Swope added an additional nine digs on the match. At the net, Alyssa Wisher had five assisted blocks and two solo blocks. Kadara Marshall had four assisted blocks and two solo blocks. Both Ellie Hanser and Kennedy Hildebrand had three assisted blocks and Kylie Hadley added another two.
"I was really proud of the team with how we fought back after being down 0-2. It was heartbreaking to lose by two points in the 5th set, but we are that much closer to where we want to be," stated head coach Jenn Hartman.
Next on the schedule, the Blue Hawks take on DII Minot State University on Tuesday, October 16 at 6pm at Scott Gymnasium.
