The Comet volleyball team was able to respond and find their groove after a bit of slow start against Valley City State on Wednesday night, eventually earning themselves a 3-1 win in North Star conference play and moving themselves to 18-11 overall and 7-5 in the NSAA. 

"I thought we did a good job tonight of rebounding after a disappointing first set," explained Head Coach Lindsey Johnson. "We found our block and we really picked up our offense in the final three sets."

The Vikings came out hot in the first set and found themselves ahead 11-6 early, but the Comets fought back to tie things at 14 before Valley City State responded with three straight points. Both teams traded blows before the Comets found themselves down 20-16, a key stretch of kills from Hannah Bliss brought the Comets to within one, but the Vikings came back with three straight points again to make it 23-19. From there, a key timeout from Coach Johnson down the stretch helped the Comets to five straight points and a 24-23 lead. But VCSU responded out of a timeout of their own with three straight points to take the first set. 

All the action in the first set seemed to wake the Comets up. Mayville State jumped out to a 9-1 lead and never looked back on their way to an easy win in the second set. Kills from Hannah Bliss, Kaitlin Leier, Victoria Johnson, and Kiana Johnson would power a late stretch of points for the Comets and help build the lead to 23-9, eventually taking the set 25-11.

The third set saw back-and-forth action through the first half of the set, but an 8-2 run from the Comets, powered by kills from Victoria Johnson, Ashley Pyburn, and Kiana Johnson, put them up 23-17. A small surge from the Vikings made things interesting late in the set, but Mayville State was able to put it away 25-22. 

The last set of the night was very similar to the third, both teams traded blows in the early going and another key stretch of offense late in the set helped widen the gap for the Comets and eventually give them the match. With MSU leading 16-14, a kill from Kaitlin Leier started a quick 7-3 run and gave the Comets a 23-17 lead. Hannah Bliss and Victoria Johnson were able to finish things off for the last two points of the night and give them the 25-19 win in the fourth set. 

Victoria Johnson led the way for the Comets in kills with 14 on the night, Hannah Bliss followed that with 13 and Kiana Johnson added another eight. Ashley Pyburn led all players with seven blocks, and Victoria Johnson and Kiana Johnson added five each of their own. Elora Passa tallied 41 assists in the match, and Jayden Warner added another 37 digs to her season total. 

Valley City State was led by Katie Juarez with 14 kills and Charlotte Huschka with four aces on the night for the Vikings. 

The Comets will take on Dickinson State back in the Lewy Lee this Saturday at 4 p.m., then finish the regular season next Wednesday with a home match against Presentation.