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The North Park volleyball team traveled to Washington D.C. Thursday-Saturday to compete at the Gallaudet University Tournament and although they came away with an 0-4 record, Vikings' coach Tim Walenga was pleased with the effort the squad put forth.

"We were in every match," he said. "There was some really tough competition at this tournament and our ladies did an exceptional job standing up to it. We had some great performances."

North Park lost to Marymount University 3-0 and both host Gallaudet and the Catholic University of America by 3-1 margins, but its best match came against Bridgewater College where the Vikings nearly came away with a victory, losing the match in five sets.

NP earned 25-13 and 25-20 wins in the first two sets, but Bridgewater had to fight off a furious Vikings comeback in the third set to avoid the sweep. After BC pulled out to a 7-1 advantage, North Park came roaring back to tie the set at 13-all when a 12-6 scoring run was capped off by a Sarah Ray service ace. North Park then played BC point for point over the next three points, until Bridgewater finally broke away with a 10-7 run to move ahead 24-20. The Vikings did trim the deficit to 24-23 on back-to-back kills from senior Shelby Switzer, but Bridgewater ended the set and forced the fourth on a kill.

Switzer finished with a match-high 25 kills and 10 digs, while sophomore Hayley Brake added 10 kills. Sophomore Abigail McKowen dished out 50 assists in the effort. She finished the two-day tournament with 169 assists, while Switzer had 84 total kills, including a match-high 27 against Catholic in the final match. Brake also had 28 kills and junior Neisha Bolian added 37.

North Park (6-9) looks to rebound Tuesday when it opens College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play with North Central College at 7 p.m. The Vikings will be hosting "Blue Out" night where the first 250 NPU fans will receive a free Vikings Volleyball tie-dye t-shirt.