The Comet Volleyball team traveled to La Crosse, WI to begin their North Star Athletic Association post-season playoff journey at the host school of Viterbo University inside the R.W. Beggs Senior Gymnasium today against the Valley City State Vikings. The Comets found themselves in some close contests, but it wasn't enough to edge out the Vikings as they fell in three straight sets by narrow margins in each of them. 

Set 1 saw the Vikings jump out ahead by 5, with the Comets making small comebacks before VCSU would pull away by as much as 6 points in some stretches. VCSU extended their lead to 20 to 14 until the Comets got on fire with a 7-1 run to tie it at 21 each, mainly caused by a series of Viking errors. VCSU edged themselves out ahead 23-21, but the Comets tied it at 23 on the next two scores. The Vikings would finish it off with a kill and an ace to end the set and take the 1-0 lead.

The Comets went toe-to-toe with the Vikings in Set 2. Victoria Johnson and Cassidy Miller were coming through for the Comets as the set progressed, but VCSU would once again would get some stretches of offense to climb the lead up to 6 at times. Cassidy Miller and Kiana Johnson started the late rally for the Comets, as their kills started to close the gap on an 11-5 run to make it 22-21, VCSU with the slim advantage. Clarissa Olson for the Vikings was too much to handle in the end though. She rattled off three kills in a row for VCSU, allowing them to win it 25-21 to take the 2-0 lead. 

It was a slightly different start for the Comets in Set 3 as they would take the lead early, but the Vikings battled back on their way up to an 11-11 tie. The Comets built the lead to 16-13 but couldn't contain a Vikings rush of points as the game became tied at 19. The two squads fought their way back and forth with ties at 21, 22 and 23. A Vikings service error would give the Comets a 24-23 lead and a chance to win the set, but 2 straight kills out of Clarissa Olson would fuel a late surge for the Vikings as they took the set and the match with the 26-24 win. 

Leading for the Comets in kills was Cassidy Miller with 9, Kiana Johnson with 7 and Victoria Johnson with 7. Jana Mehus led with 29 assists for a game-high in the contest. Jayden Warner recorded 29 digs for a game-high as well, followed by 10 each coming from Rumor Stokes and Natalie Hadrava. 2 service aces were also recorded for Hadrava. 

It wasn't quite the ending that Coach Lindsey Johnson wanted to see, but she is proud of the effort her ladies had all season. "I am so incredibly proud of what this team has accomplished this year. While this one didn't go the way we wanted, this group has a lot to be proud of. This team has laid the foundation and changed the culture of Mayville State Volleyball and I couldn't be more excited for what the future holds for this group."

After some struggling seasons in recent years, the Comets have really turned things around with a positive, uplifting culture created by the team, a culture that was spread by the leadership of the Comet seniors who played their last game in Comet blue today. The team really turned things around, anchored by All-Conference selections of Jayden Warner who was a First-Team All-NSAA selection and chosen as Defender-of-the -Year in the conference. Rounding out the conference awards were Jana Mehus and Victoria Johnson, who were both selected as All-NSAA Second-Team picks. With a powerful and talented young squad returning next year, the Comets look to break out even further and be a force to contend with in the NSAA in 2019. 

The Comets ended their season with a 19-16 winning record, the first one since the 2014 season for the program.