Photo Courtesy VCSU Athletics
ABERDEEN, S.D. (vcsuvikings.com) – The Valley City State softball team rallied from a 5-0 deficit in the final two innings Friday, scoring a come-from-behind 6-5 win in their season opener.
VCSU scored five runs in the sixth inning and one in the seventh to earn a 6-5 victory over Dordt University at the Presentation College Dome Classic. In the second game of the day, the Vikings were shut out in a 6-0 loss to No. 20 Morningside College.
Valley City State is now 1-1 to start the season. The Vikings will play two more games Saturday in Aberdeen.
VALLEY CITY, N.D. (vcsuvikings.com) – Bellevue University shot 74 percent in the second half Friday night, outscoring Valley City State 50-38 over the final 20 minutes en route to an 89-77 men’s basketball victory.
The two teams entered the night tied for second place in the North Star Athletic Association standings, and were tied 39-39 at halftime. The second half belonged to the Bruins though as they created easy shots and outscored the Vikings by 12 points down the stretch.
Valley City State drops to 16-6 overall and 7-5 in the North Star Athletic Association. Bellevue University improves to 16-12 overall and 8-4 in the NSAA. The Bruins move into sole possession of second place in the NSAA standings, remaining one game back of conference leader Mayville State.
VALLEY CITY, N.D. (vcsuvikings.com) – Bellevue’s Faith Ross hit a three-pointer with 11 seconds on the clock to seal a 54-50 Bruin victory over the Vikings Friday night.
Senior Maara Nelson matched her career-high Friday, scoring 20 points for the Vikings. She also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and recorded four steals in the game. Adriana Torres added 13 points while Macey Kvilvang added nine points and four blocks Friday.
Valley City State drops to 7-11 overall and 5-7 in the NSAA. Bellevue improves to 14-5 overall and 10-2 in the conference.
Bellevue started out with a big first quarter, going 5-for-6 on 3’s through the first ten minutes to hold an 18-10 advantage. Valley City State answered back and closed the second quarter on a 9-2 run to trail 29-27 at the half.
THE OPPONENTS…
Presentation was 1-15 last season and the Saints’ top returning hitter is Skye Carter with a .346 batting average in 2021. She had nine hits in ten games played. Celia Cerezo returns after batting .214 last season with six hits. Yulissa Pena was 1-4 on the mound with 42 innings pitched and had 22 strikeouts with a 7.61 earned run average.
Jamestown was 12-7 last season and return five hitters who posted .392 batting averages or better. Katie Reisdorfer batted .468 with 22 hits and 14 runs batted in. Morgan Geiszler batted .463 last season with 25 hits and five doubles. Santina Zito batted .443 with six doubles and had two homeruns like Geiszler. Mariah Wick and Kasi Ward batted .407 and .392 last season and Ward clubbed two homeruns. Katie Merchant was 5-2 on the mound with 43 innings pitched and she struck out 35 batters. Ann-Marie Crandlemire was 2-2 in 19 innings pitched.
North Star Athletic Association Women’s Basketball Player-of-the-Week
Macey Kvilvang – Valley City State (N.D.) – 6’5″ – Senior – forward – Cando, N.D. – Kvilvang scored a career-high 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for a double-double in Valley City State’s (N.D.) 73-70 road victory at Waldorf (Iowa). She also posted double figures with 16 points and added eight rebounds, despite a 74-70 defeat at Viterbo (Wis.). For the week, Kvilvang averaged 22.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. She also averaged 1.5 assists, 1.0 block and 1.0 steal per game. She was 21-of-33 from the field (63.6 percent) and made both free-throw attempts.
Recap from last week’s games
Dakota State (S.D.), who is ranked No. 21 in the latest NAIA Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 national poll, extended their school record winning streak to 15 games after going 3-0 record for the week. The Trojans held off Mayville State (N.D.) 64-59 on Feb. 2 in Mayville, N.D. and defe