LAKEWOOD, Colo. – Chadron State volleyball played reigning RMAC Tournament finalists Colorado Christian as close as possible, falling in five sets to the Cougars by set scores of 25-15, 23-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-12.
Despite the loss, it was a positive showing in the RMAC conference season opener for the Eagles, who were picked 13th to Colorado Christian's third in the Preseason Coaches Poll but appeared stride-for-stride with the Cougars for much of the contest.
Kally Kirkwood led the way offensively with 13 kills on a .310 hitting percentage, while Gibson Beckler added 12 kills and the versatile Shelby Harding chipped in 11.
The Eagles also shone defensively, racking up 78 digs in the match and having five players collect double-digit digs. Jillian Donovan and Josie Loosvelt led with 16 digs apiece while Harding had 15, Beckler 13 and Avery Lacy 12. Donovan also led with 37 assists, her second-highest career single-match total.
While the first set was a comfortable 10-point Cougars win, Chadron State refused to back down and took the next two sets by thin margins. The second set featured 10 ties, with CSC battling back from a 9-6 deficit and finally knotting the score at 15-15 after drawing within one in five different occasions before that. Kirkwood kills provided the 22nd and 23rd Chadron State points of the set before a Jillian Donovan ace and Gibson Beckler kill put the finishing touches on the 25-23 frame.
Colorado Christian took an early 5-3 lead in set number three, but the Eagles would not let the Cougars pull away. Neither team led by more than two points in the set until a 3-0 run from the Eagles courtesy of back-to-back Shelby Harding kills and a Gibson Beckler/Bella Adams block opened up a 20-16 lead for CSC. Although CCU saved two set points to cut the lead from 24-21 to 24-23, Donovan sliplped home a kill to seal the third set and put the visitors up two sets to one.
Chadron State ripped up a 5-0 scoring run in set four, taking advantage of three CCU errors plus a kill and an ace from Beckler to lead 12-9, but the Cougars reeled CSC in. The lead went back-and-forth until CCU scored three straight points to take a 23-21 lead, then found a kill and block once the Eagles tied the score to win the fourth, with the set score finishing at 25-23 for the third straight time.
In the decisive fifth, Chadron State led 7-3 after a Kally Kirkwood kill, but CCU answered with a 5-2 run to pull within a point. Shelby Harding fired home a kill to give Chadron State a 12-9 lead, but the Cougars ended the match on a roll, winning the final six points to take the match. The Cougars bookended their scoring run with two kills and had an ace, two blocks and a bad Eagle set in the middle.
Chadron State hit .126 as a team while the Cougars hit .212. Colorado Christian doubled CSC up 12-6 on blocks and had 65 kills to CSC's 49.
The Eagles will be traveling to Pueblo to take on the ThunderWolves on Saturday, with first serve set for 3 p.m.
