CHADRON, Neb. -- September 26, 2017 -- As they have been known to do, the Chadron State College volleyball team went back and forth with a highly regarded opponent, winning a marathon first set but coming up short in a 3-1 loss (31-29, 11-25, 20-25, 19-25) to No. 11 Regis University in exciting Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference volleyball action Tuesday evening in the Chicoine Center.

"I'm proud of our team tonight," said CSC Head Volleyball Coach Riann Mullis. "They came out and they fought hard against a top-15 team. For them to come out with that momentum and that fire, and win that 31-point first set, they really took it and earned it."

Chadron State took a quick 3-0 lead in that first set before a 5-0 run by the Rangers turned things around to go on top 11-8. The Eagles hung in and took control again after an ace by Ashton Burditt tied things up at 21 apiece. The teams battled through some rallies that went eight or nine times to each side before CSC had to fight off set point three consecutive times. They did so, and finally pushed through to win the set 31-29 on a Dominika Senkerikova kill.

The Eagles suffered a setback in set two with a 19-1 run by Regis en route to a 14-point win by the Rangers.

In set three, it was the Rangers' turn to get out in front first, but CSC hung in again. Regis went up 11-4, but the Eagles had their best hitting percentage of the night in the third period, getting 15 kills on 32 attempts with just two errors. Chadron State fought to within 18-21, before three Regis kills and a block ended it.

Chadron State came out hot in set four, needing to tie things up. The Eagles built a 13-5 lead and had the Rangers down 16-10 at one point, before the Eagles' hot streak, which started midway through the third set, finally ended. They saw the Rangers go on an 8-1 run to finally get out in front at 18-17, and never led again.

"There were a lot of long rallies against Mesa," said Mullis, "that we kind of folded, so we learned from that. We just kept saying, 'work every single point in the long rallies, and earn every single point, and keep playing.' It's just a mentality you have to have, when things get tight and the ball keeps going back and forth over the net. You have to earn every single point, and grind. We have a really tough team, and that correlated into some of those tough points early on."

Madison Webb had one of her better nights as an Eagle, recording 39 assists and 11 digs for her second double-double of the season. She also had four kills.

Emily Bruce had 18 digs to pace the Eagles, who had one of their best defensive stands of the year. The ball was slowed numerous times at the net by the frontcourt, allowing CSC to grab 55 digs as a team, their season-high for a four-set match.

Leading Chadron State in kills were Gaby Varela, with 13, followed by Senkerikova and Aijahnae Springs with 12 apiece.

For the Rangers, Kelsey Green was the offensive weapon of choice, collecting 19 kills and recording three total blocks. Their wall of six-footers including 6-4 Nikki Kennedy registered 14 total blocks, 10 of which were accounted for by the sophomre from Parker, Colorado.

Chadron State gets little time to prepare for Westminster in Salt Lake City, Utah, where they must travel for their match Friday at 7 p.m.