  We performed calculations of the electronic band structure and the Fermi
surface as well as measured the longitudinal resistivity $\rho_{xx}(T,H)$, Hall
resistivity $\rho_{xy}(T,H)$, and magnetic susceptibility as a function of
temperature and various magnetic fields for VAs$_2$ with a monoclinic crystal
structure. The band structure calculations show that VAs$_2$ is a nodal-line
semimetal when spin-orbit coupling is ignored. The emergence of a minimum at
around 11 K in $\rho_{xx}(T)$ measured at $H$ = 0 demonstrates that an
additional magnetic impurity (V$^{4+}$, $S$ = 1/2) occurs in VAs$_2$ single
crystals, evidenced by both the fitting of $\rho_{xx}(T)$ data and the
susceptibility measurements. It was found that a large positive
magnetoresistance (MR) reaching 649\% at 10 K and 9 T, its nearly quadratic
field dependence, and a field-induced up-turn behavior of $\rho_{xx}(T)$ emerge
also in VAs$_2$, although MR is not so large due to the existence of additional
scattering compared with other topological nontrival/trival semimetals. The
observed properties are attributed to a perfect charge-carrier compensation,
which is evidenced by both calculations relying on the Fermi surface and the
Hall resistivity measurements. These results indicate that the compounds
containing V ($3d^3 4s^2$) element as a platform for studying the influence of
magnetic impurities to the topological properties.
