CSC VB Falls Short Against SD Mine Despite Historic Comeback

By John Murphy CSC Sports Information Director

The Chadron State volleyball team came up just short of going undefeated at its own season-opening tournament over the weekend, losing in 4 sets to South Dakota School of Mines Saturday afternoon.

The scores were 25-21, 25-22, 23-25 and 25-23 with the Eagles scoring the final 14 points in the 3rd set after trailing 23-11.
 
The loss drops CSC to 2-1 on the season, but the loss to the Hardrockers doesn’t count in the RMAC standings because the match was in a tournament before conference play started.
 
Mines scored 3 straight points to break a 6-6 tie in the 1st set and remained in the lead the rest of the way.
 
Chadron State opened Set 2 with a 5-1 lead and led 22-21 but Mines scored the next 4 points to take the set.

The 3rd set victory was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, comebacks in program history. Trailing 23-11, a kill by sophomore Bella Adams of Pueblo, CO, sparked energy into the Eagles and Avery Lacy, a freshman from Windsor, CO, served 13 straight points for the win.
 
Adams recorded two kills – the first and last points of the 14-0 run – while Lexi Hurtado,  a graduate student from Aurora, CO, had 5 kills – 4 of them in a span of 5 points. The Hardrockers helped by committing 7 attack errors.

Chadron State looked to be on the verge of tying the match when they led 22-20 in set 4, but a 5-1 run gave the Hardrockers the set and match victory.
 
Chadron State hit .204 as a team in the loss. South Dakota Mines finished with an attack percentage of .181.
 
Hurtado led the Eagles offensively for the third straight game with 14 kills. Aiyana Fujiyama, a junior from Wahiawa, Hawaii added 13 kills and had a match high hitting percentage of .480. Mayson Fago, a senior from Evans, Colorado, also had 13 kills.
 
Alessandra Meoni had a match high 17 kills while hitting .455 for the Hardrockers.
 
South Dakota Mine’s Kiley Metzger led both teams with 46 assists. Kendyl Kirkwood, a junior form Fleming, Colorado, had 43 assists for CSC.
 
Defensively, four Eagles finished with double-digit digs. Alondra Hernandez, a junior from Provo, Utah, had 19 to lead CSC and Lacy finished second with 16. Hurtado recorded her third double-double this season with 15 digs, while Kirkwood had her second with 12 digs.
 
Adams led the Eagles with four blocks.
 
Chadron State volleyball returns to action on Friday, September 8, in Winter Park, FL, at the Rollins College Invitational.