SPEARFISH, S.D. – November 4, 2017 – Chadron State College volleyball took care of business Saturday evening in Spearfish, downing the host Black Hills State Yellow Jackets 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-16, 25-19) to set both teams' records at 10-15 and 7-9 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.
 
"This is the best we've played all year," said CSC Head Coach Riann Mullis. "Our defense looked phenomenal. We had 94 digs, compared to their 73. We were just not letting many things drop. We didn't block our best, but we didn't have to, with the way our back court played."
 
Dominika Senkerikova, who had 15 kills with a .281 hitting clip, went out of her way to play a ball in the second set off her foot, to the delight of the CSC faithful in attendance.
 
The Eagles' solid senior libero, Emily Bruce, picked up 36 digs in the four sets, for an astounding average of nine per set. Three others – Ashton Burditt, Karli Noble, and Madison Webb – had double digit digs as well.
 
Webb's 14 assists per set, a total of 56 in the match, were her second-best average as an Eagle. She finished with her fifth double-double of the season.
 
Gaby Varela led the Eagles with 19 kills, while Aijahnae Springs had 12 and a team-high .286 hitting percentage.
 
The Eagles had to overcome 11 team blocks by the Yellow Jackets, led by Fehrin Ward with six. Two BHSU players – Ellise Lech and Carisa Becerra – finished with 10 kills.
 
"Black Hills State is a good team," said Mullis, "and they're one of our biggest rivals. It's a big deal to beat them twice in one year. We have to take this momentum into next week to try and make the RMAC Tournament."
 
Chadron State goes down to Denver next weekend where they visit Colorado School of Mines and Colorado Christian University, needing to score an upset. The team is tied with BHSU for eighth in the conference standings, but own the tiebreaker of head-to-head results.
 
The Yellow Jackets, despite CSC's two wins against them, are the only obstacle between the Eagles and the conference postseason. Chadron State needs to match Black Hills State's results against South Dakota Mines and UC-Colorado Springs. BHSU has beaten both of those opponents previously this season.