The Chadron Cardinals volleyball team was busy this past weekend with the two day Twin Cities Invite.
The Cardinals went 2-1 on Friday and 0-3 on Saturday to finish last in the gold bracket but overall in the top half of the teams in the tournament.
The Cardinals started off the tournament on Friday defeating Class C-1 rival Mitchell 2-0. They then followed it up by being swept by Rapid City Stevens 0-2 in the middle match of the three on Friday. Then to close out the day needing a win to stay in the top bracket the Cardinals lost the first set to St. Thomas More before storming back and winning sets two and three to go 2-1 on the day.
The Cardinals were placed in the gold bracket which featured the top teams from Friday. The Cardinals struggled on Saturday going 0-3. The day started off with a loss to Ogallala, followed it up with a three set loss to Gering before being swept by Rapid City Stevens to finish out the day.
The first match of the day vs Ogallala the Cardinals took set one 25-18 then fell in sets two and three by 25-22, and 25-17. The Cardinals then turned around and fell to Gering 2-1. The sets were lopsided as Gering won the first one 25-17, Chadron got the second one 25-16 before Gering closed out the match with a 25-12 third set. The Cardinals met up with Rapid City Stevens in the final match of the day and was swept 2-0.
Head coach Blakelee Hoffman said after the tournament “Overall, I was really happy with how we did this weekend. Our record doesn’t reflect how well we played. We faced some tough teams and the progress we’re making at this point of the season is what really matters.”
Statistically speaking the Cardinals finished the tournament with 104 kills at a rate of 17 per match. Their high was 30 vs Gering. Serving wise the Cardinals averaged 6.5 aces per match with a high of 12 vs Mitchell.
The Cardinals sit at 11-15 on the season and welcome Rapid City Christian to town Tuesday night. Reserves are set for 4 with JV at 5 and varsity at 6.