SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Chadron State volleyball battled with Cal State San Marcos throughout CSC's final match at the San Diego Invite, but the Eagles fell to the Cougars in four sets – 18-25, 18-25, 25-22, 19-25. Chadron finishes its season-opening California trip at 0-4.
Kendyl Kirkwood had a well-rounded game for CSC, finishing with 30 assists, 12 digs and three service aces.
Bella Adams had nine kills to lead the Eagles, while sophomore
Kally Kirkwood and freshman
Mataya Ward had eight kills apiece. Senior
Aiyana Fujiyama had seven kills and a game-high four blocks.
San Marcos won the first two sets with offensive efficiency, hitting .424 in the first set and .400 in the second. The Cougars used a 12-1 scoring run to turn a narrow 6-5 lead into an 18-6 advantage, leading to a comfortable first set win despite Chadron State closing the gap late.
The Eagles jumped out to a lead in the second set, with back-to-back kills from
Kendyl Kirkwood and Fujiyama helping CSC storm out to an 8-2 advantage. San Marcos chipped away, using a 4-0 run to cut the lead to 9-7 and eventually tying the set score at 13-13 for the first time.
Two Jessica Thomas kills sandwiched around a Ward attack error helped CSUSM open up a 17-15 lead in the second set, but Chadron responded with kills from Fujiyama and
Kendyl Kirkwood to tie the score at 17-17. From there, however, it was all Cougars, as San Marcos won eight of the next nine points to take the second set by the same score as the first, 25-18.
Chadron State rallied to win its first set of the year in the third. This time, the Eagles ripped off a scoring run, winning eight of nine points and only dropping a point on a service error to turn a 5-5 set into a 13-6 Eagles advantage. Chadron State turned to freshman
Mataya Ward, who had five of her eight kills for the game in set three.
The Eagles needed six set points to close things out, but fittingly, it was
Mataya Ward with the set-winning kill from
Alondra Hernandez, who had a team-high 21 digs in the match, to give the Eagles a 25-22 set win and send the match to a fourth set.
San Marcos turned it on to ensure there would be no fifth set, however, racing out to an 11-1 lead.
Alejandra Briseno shined for CSC, with four kills against no errors in the fourth set, but the Cougars led the fourth from start to finish, winning 25-19 to close out the match.
Chadron State will have four more matches next weekend, all taking place at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. The Eagles will face Oklahoma Christian and the University of Mary on Friday, September 13, before taking on Missouri Southern and the host Lopers on Saturday.
