The Mayville State Comet Volleyball squad ventured to Valley City, N.D. tonight to contend with the Valley City State Vikings for another North Star Athletic Association contest. The match was full of back-and-forth action from both sides with the Comets coming out on top down the stretch in five sets, taking the match 16-25, 25-22, 29-27, 14-25, 15-10. 

Valley City came out swinging in the first set and were able to jump ahead early to get the night started. Early errors from the Comets and strong offense from the Vikings led them to a 16-9 lead midway through the set, from there the Comets got a spark of offense from Jana Mehus to things within 6, but that's as close Mayville State would get in the first set. VCSU was able to ride their momentum on their way to a 25-16 win to take the 1-0 lead. 

After a back-and-forth start, Mayville State was able to settle in and get ahead in the second set after Victoria Johnson and Kiana Johnson put together a string of kills to give them a 16-13 that led to a VCSU timeout. That timeout seemed to work for the Vikings as they scored 2 quick points. But the Comets went back to Victoria Johnson for a kill and got a service ace from Jana Mehus to bring the lead back to 4. The Vikings struck back with 5 straight points, including two service aces from VCSU's Katie Juarez. Juarez eventually had a service error, and Mason Hart came back with a couple of nice serves of her own to force the Vikings into tough spots and giving the Comets points. From there, the MSU was able to get some nice defensive plays from Jayden Warner and Victoria Johnson to help Mayville State to some late scores and hold off a late comeback from VCSU to take the set 25-22. 

In set 3, both teams were trading blows on their way to a 9-9 tie. From there, the Comets went on a 5-1 run with kills from Victoria Johnson and Hannah Bliss to force a timeout from VCSU. Out of the timeout, the Vikings went on a 7-1 to run to give the Vikings 17-15 lead. VCSU eventually stretched their lead to 19-17, but an error from the Vikings and a Rumor Stokes kill tied it at 19, then Kiana Johnson followed that with a kill and another error from VCSU to make it 21-19 with the Comets in the lead VCSU was able to get two quick points to tie things at 21, from there both teams went back and forth with points until things were at 27 each. Anytime the Comets took the lead and had match point, the Vikings would find a way to respond and tie it back up. Mayville State was finally able to put it away with back to back kills from Victoria Johnson and Cassidy Miller to take the third set 29-27. 

The Comets came out a little flat in set 4 and gave VCSU a lead early, that was all the Vikings needed to take advantage and win the fourth set. Errors from the Comets and kills from the Vikings extended things to 10-3 before a MSU timeout was called to try to regroup. The Comets were able to come back with a small surge with kills from Jana Mehus, Victoria Johnson, and Kiana Johnson to bring things to 10-13. But that's as close as the Comets would get from there. The Vikings responded with a key offensive surge of their own to keep their lead moving to 18-11, that late surge proved to be too much for the Comets as the fourth set finished 25-14 in favor of VCSU. 

The Comets were able to get ahead after a stretch of kills from Hannah Bliss, Victoria Johnson, and Cassidy Miller gave them an early 4-2 lead. Both teams traded blows on their way to an 8-5 score with the Comets keeping their lead before the two teams switched sides. From there, the Vikings came out with a quick 4-1 run to tie things up at 9 apiece, but from there it was all Comets. Strong defense and a kill from Hannah Bliss down the stretch led the Comets to the 15-10 win in the final set, giving Mayville State a big victory over rival VCSU.

The Comets will now finish up regular season action on Thursday night when they take on Dickinson State in Dickinson, N.D. That match is set to start at 7 p.m. CDT.