Paxton Ritchey- CSC Sports Information Director
CHADRON, Neb. – After losing a third set in heartbreaking fashion, Chadron State volleyball could have folded. Instead, the Eagles rallied to take the final two sets and win a five-set thriller over South Dakota Mines – 21-25, 25-22, 29-31, 25-16, 15-13.
The win snaps a five-game losing streak for the Eagles (3-10) in what was CSC’s first match to go a fifth set this season. It is the second time among Chadron State’s three victories that the Eagles rallied to win after dropping the first set. The Eagles did it against a strong South Dakota Mines team that finished fourth in the RMAC last season and has a sweep over defending RMAC Tournament champions Regis on its resume from this year.
Alejandra Briseno finished with a 15-kill, 17-dig double-double, her second double-double of the season and a season high in digs. Offensively, three other Eagles attackers had hitting percentages of .300 or better – Kally Kirkwood (12 kills, .379), Aiyana Fujiyama (11 kills, .321) and Bella Adams (nine kills, .381).
Defensively, CSC finished with 16 total blocks, which doubled their previous season high of eight against Missouri Southern, the last match they won prior to Tuesday night. Leading the charge on that front was Fujiyama, who finished with 10 blocks, including a solo block, for a season high and a tie for the highest single-game total in the RMAC this season.
The two-point margin in the fifth and deciding set was fitting for a match that seemed neck-and-neck throughout the contest. South Dakota Mines won the first set, but its largest lead of the set was five points at 24-19, and CSC saved two set points before the Hardrockers put it away at 25-21.
Chadron State jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the second set, using three Briseno kills and service aces from Alondra Hernandez and Bella Adams to help build that lead. With a 17-15 advantage, the Eagles got a kill from Kally Kirkwood and three consecutive attack errors to open up a 21-15 cushion. South Dakota Mines saved CSC’s first set point to make it 24-22, but a service error gave Chadron State the set to knot things up at one.
The third set was one for the ages. The Eagles led most of the way, jumping out to a 5-2 lead and eventually using back-to-back kills from Kally Kirkwood and Fujiyama to take a 21-16 lead. The Hardrockers answered, however, ripping off a 6-1 scoring run to tie the score at 22-22. Chadron State got a Rylee Ward kill and Hernandez to put themselves on the brink of going up two sets to one, but the Hardrockers saved back-to-back set points to tie the score at 24-24.
The fun was just beginning, as the two teams traded the next 10 points to get to 29-29. Overall, in the third set alone, Chadron State saved four set points and the Hardrockers saved three before South Dakota Mines finally won two points in a row to take the set, 31-29. That marked the second straight match with a 31-29 set loss for Chadron State, after the Eagles lost the first set to Fort Lewis by that same score.
Unlike in the Fort Lewis match, the Eagles recovered. The fourth set was the most straightforward set of the match, with CSC racing out to a 7-1 lead and leading by as many as 10 in the set before closing out the fourth 25-16.
The Hardrockers led early in the deciding fifth set, grabbing a 7-4 lead, but the Eagles took advantage of some sloppy serving by the visitors, earning three of their first five points in the set via service errors. Back-to-back kills from Fujiyama and Avery Lacy gave the Eagles the fifth-set lead for the first time at 11-10.
After the Hardrockers tied it, Kally Kirkwood teamed up with Fujiyama for a block, then thundered home a kill for a 13-11 lead. Another SDM service error put Chadron State on the brink, and it was Briseno with the final kill of the match to give CSC the comeback victory.
The Eagles hit .208 as a team for the match, but hit a blistering .357 in the deciding fifth set. Chadron State had 97 digs in the match and 62 kills against just 22 attack errors.
Alondra Hernandez had 21 digs while Rylee Ward had a double-double with 13 digs plus 24 assists, on top of three service aces.
Chadron State will hit the court next on the road against Black Hills State on Friday at 6 p.m. The Yellow Jackets (4-8, 0-4 RMAC) are due to play South Dakota Mines on Thursday before they take on the Eagles.