Valley City State sweeps final NSAA Volleyball Players of the Week honors
Valley City State volleyball swept the final installment of the North Star Athletic Association Player of the Week honors, the conference office announced Monday. Bailey Nelson was named Attacker of the Week, Sadie Hansen was selected as Setter of the Week and JayCee Richter as the Defender of the Week.
NSAA Volleyball Attacker
of the Week
Bailey Nelson – Valley City State (N.D.) – 6'0", Senior, outside hitter – Argusville, N.D. – Nelson posted a career-high 30 kills in a 3-2 home thriller over Mayville State. She followed up with 23 kills as the Vikings defeated Presentation in another five-set match. For the week, Nelson totaled 53 kills (5.3 kills per set) and registered a hitting percentage of .328. She also contributed 12 digs and six blocks on the week.
NSAA Volleyball Setter of the Week
Sadie Hansen – Valley City State (N.D.) – 5'9", Sophomore, setter – Oakes, N.D. – Hansen paced Valley City State with a pair of double-doubles in fueling a pair of 3-2 home victories. She tied a career-best 63 set assists (12.6 assists per set) and a new career high 31 digs (6.2 digs per set) in in Vikings' victory over Mayville State. She followed up with 44 assists (8.8 assists per set) and 23 digs (4.6 digs per set) in VCSU's win over Presentation (S.D.). For the week, Hansen racked up 107 set assists (10.7 assists per set) and 54 digs (5.4 digs per set). She also smashed 10 total kills for the week.
NSAA Volleyball Defender of the Week
JayCee Richter – Valley City State (N.D.) – 5'7", Freshman, libero – Linton, N.D. – Richter produced a careerbest 50 digs (10.0 digs per set) as Valley City State defeated Mayville State in five sets, setting a single-match record, dating back to the 2005 season. She followed up with 33 digs (6.6 digs per set) in another 3-2 victory over Presentation. For the week, Richter amassed 83 digs (8.3 digs per set) and contributed 12 set assists (1.2 assists per set). She also had 70 receptions.
Recap from last week's action
Mayville State (N.D.) and Valley City State (N.D.) kicked off the final week of North Star Athletic Association volleyball regular season play on Nov. 2. The Vikings held off the Comets in a five-set thriller, despite a 2-0 match lead in Valley City, N.D.
The Comets followed up with another five-set thriller at Dickinson State (N.D.) on Nov. 3. After falling behind 0-2 in the match, MSU roared back to win the final three sets to secure the victory. Mayville State is 16-17 overall record.
VCSU earned another home five-set thriller on Nov. 4 with Presentation (S.D.) on Nov. 4. Valley City State wrapped up their regular season play with an overall record of 11-16.
Also on Nov. 4, No. 7 ranked Viterbo (Wis.) held off Dakota State (S.D.) in five sets in Madison, S.D. No. 16 Bellevue (Neb.) rolled past Waldorf (Iowa) in three straight sets.
On the final day of regular season play, Bellevue defeated Viterbo in four sets to claim a share of the 2022 North Star Athletic Association Women's Volleyball regular season title with 13-1 record. Viterbo's 13-match winning streak came to an end, holding an overall record of 26-7. Bellevue ballooned their winning streak to 10 matches, raising their overall record to 25-6.
Presentation earned a 3-1 victory on the road at Dickinson State to wrap up the regular season schedule. The Saints are 9-21 overall record. The Blue Hawks were eliminated from the NSAA postseason play, ending their season with an overall record of 4-23.
Dakota State held on defeat Waldorf in four sets on the final day of regular season action. The Trojans improved to 17-16 overall record, while the Warriors finished their season with an overall record of 11-13 after being eliminated from conference postseason tournament.
Dakota State and Mayville State finished in a two-way tie for third in the NSAA standings with 7-7 record each. Valley City State and Presentation both finished the league play with a 6-8 record, tying for fifth in the conference standings. Waldorf and Dickinson State each finished the North Star schedule with a 2-12 record, tying for seventh in the standings.
Looking Ahead
The 2022 North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) Volleyball 'Super Six' conference postseason tournament is set at Civic Arena in Watertown, S.D. on Friday and Saturday.
The winner of the NSAA Volleyball Postseason Conference Tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NAIA Volleyball National Tournament Opening Round, which is set for Nov. 19. The national opening round winners will move on to the final set at Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa from Nov. 30-Dec. 6.