The Chadron Cardinals hosted the Alliance Bulldogs for the volleyball home opener at the Bird Cage Tuesday Night. Chadron won the first two sets before Alliance reverse swept the Cardinals to win 3-2 (25-27, 19-25, 25-21, 25-22, 15-13).
The Cardinals looked really good the first set, running out to a 6-1 early lead. The Bulldogs battled back and made it a back and forth set with Chadron pulling out a 27-25 first set win. Chadron then took care of business in the second set, controlling the Bulldogs and winning 25-19.
The rest of the match went downhill for Chadron as they kept it close but never dominated like they did in the first two sets as Alliance took the third one 25-21 to avoid being swept.
The Bulldogs took control during the fourth set as momentum swung their way, winning the fourth set 25-22.
The fifth and decisive final set was back and forth with Alliance getting a four point lead but Chadron battled back. Alliance ended up with a 14-11 lead before Chadron got two to make it 14-13. Alliance, looking to finish off the Cardinals, forced a hitting error from Chadron to take the fifth set 15-13.
Junior Paige Slinsgby led the Cardinals with 14 kills, while junior Jenny Pinnt had 34 assists for the Cardinals.
Chadron is now 6-3 on the season, having gone 2-1 in the past three matches that have all gone five sets. Next up for the Cardinals is a trip to Gering on Thursday to take on the Gering Bulldogs. Alliance moves to 3-7 on the young season with Bayard up next on Tuesday in Alliance.