CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State volleyball went point-for-point with South Dakota Mines for two sets before the Hardrockers pulled away for a 25-27, 25-23, 25-19, 25-14 win in Rapid City on Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles (8-12, 2-8 RMAC) fell to South Dakota Mines (15-5, 7-3 RMAC) for the third time this season – one in three sets, one in five sets and now one in four sets. The Hardrockers won their fourth match in a row with Saturday's victory.
Mataya Ward led the Eagle offense with 12 kills and three aces while libero
Avery Lacy tallied 21 digs for the second consecutive match, topping 20 digs for the seventh time this season.
Gibson Beckler (eight kills) and
Brandi Helzer (seven) also were among CSC's top offensive performers while
Sarah Meservey (six kills in 15 attempts, .333 PCT) was the Eagles' most efficient.
Beyond Lacy's 21 digs,
Shelby Harding racked up 12, tying a season-high for the third time.
Josie Loosvelt had nine digs while serving two aces, recording her first career match with multiple aces.
Chadron State came from behind to win the first set. Although the Eagles led 7-6 early after three kills from Ward and two from Beckler, the Hardrockers used a 4-0 run to take the lead and maintained it for most of the set. Trailing 22-18, Ward recorded a kill, then went to the service line and placed back-to-back aces to cut the lead to 22-21.
The Hardrockers soon found set point with a 24-22 lead, but the Eagles took advantage of an SDM error then had
Sarah Meservey and
Kally Kirkwood come up with a block to knot things up at 24-24. A service error gave South Dakota Mines a third set point, but the Eagles responded with back-to-back kills from Kirkwood and Ward before another Hardrocker error gave Chadron State a 27-25 win.
In the second set, it was the Eagles with a lead and the Hardrockers making a comeback. A
Cydnie Eskew service gave CSC a 5-1 lead, and with Eskew at the service line again later in the set, Meservey and
Brandi Helzer combined for a block to give the Eagles their largest lead at 15-10.
Setter
Jillian Donovan, who split duties throughout with Eskew and tallied 18 assists to Eskew's 17, recorded one of her three kills to put CSC up 21-17, but the home team went on a 6-0 scoring run to take the lead, eventually winning 25-23.
With the two teams being knotted at 50 points apiece while splitting the first two sets, Chadron State hit .208 while winning the first set and hit .189 in the second set. After the Hardrockers rallied to win the second frame, CSC's hitting percentages dropped to .109 in the third and .022 in the fourth.
On the flip side, South Dakota Mines hit only .146 in the first set but hit .210 or better in the next three. The Eagles hit .131 for the match while SDM hit .211 on the night.
Chadron State will take part in the RMAC Power Pod next week, which will take place at Black Hills State in Spearfish. The Eagles will meet BHSU on Thursday, October 22, then face Western Colorado in a neutral-site match in Spearfish on Friday.
