Paxton Ritchey-CSC Sports Information
RAPID CITY, S.D. – Despite 12 kills apiece from Alejandra Briseno and Mataya Ward and 10 team blocks, Chadron State volleyball lost on Halloween night to South Dakota Mines in a non conference “competition pod” matchup. The set scores were 11-25, 19-25, 25-23, 23-25.
The loss, which does not count in the RMAC standings, drops the Eagles to 4-17 this season. South Dakota Mines is 13-8.
Rylee Ward had an 11-assist, 10-dig double-double for the Eagles, Alondra Hernandez had 24 digs for her eighth 20-dig match of the season. Aiyana Fujiyama led the way for CSC with five total blocks, including three solo rejections, while Bella Adams and Ward had three each. Adams also added five kills without an attack error.
No doubt remembering Chadron State’s thrilling five-set win at the Chicoine Center from the first week of October, the Hardrockers, who occupy third place in the RMAC standings, came out on fire. In the first set, South Dakota Mines had 17 kills and hit .361 while the Eagles had more errors than kills.
After absorbing that first blow, however, the Eagles got right back in the match, improving their hitting percentages to .089 in the second set, .175 in the third set and .216 in the fourth. CSC also won at the net, with 10 blocks compared to just three for the hosts.
The second set was full of scoring runs. SDM jumped out to a 10-4 lead, but Chadron State wouldn’t go away. The Eagles put together a 6-2 scoring run with back-to-back kills from Briseno, kills from Adams and Ward, and two Hardrocker attack errors.
The home team answered with a 6-1 run to take a 21-13 lead, but the Eagles had one more response, taking advantage of a service error to earn a side out and following it with a block from Adams and Kally Kirkwood, an Alondra Hernandez ace and an Adams kill to cut the deficit to 22-18 before the Hardrockers closed out the set at 25-19.
The Hardrockers got out to another quick start in set three, winning four of the first five points, but this time Chadron State took back the momentum and didn’t give it up. The Hardrockers had 10 attack errors in the set to spot CSC some points. Aiyana Fujiyama tallied a kill, then teamed up with Kally Kirkwood followed by Ward for back-to-back blocks followed by another attack error to give CSC a 16-10 lead.
Chadron State had clutch hitting down the stretch to lock down the third set, earning kills for six of their final seven points of the set. The Hardrockers went on a run to take a 22-21 lead in the set, but a Briseno kill stopped the run and tied the score. After South Dakota Mines won a point, a service error gave it back to the Eagles, and back-to-back Mataya Ward kills on either side of a timeout ensured there would be a fourth set.
Briseno continued to pace the Eagles early in set four, tallying a kill and an ace back-to-back at one point. The Hardrockers seemed poised to take the match comfortably when they took a 23-17 lead, but the Eagles proved hard to put away.
Trailing 24-20, the Eagles saved three match points, including two kills from Briseno. Head coach Jennifer Stadler even extended the match with a successful challenge that overturned an initial 25th point given to the Hardrockers. With the score at 24-23, however, the Hardrockers came up with a kill to ice the set and win the match.
Chadron State will play again Friday night against CSU Pueblo, but remain in Rapid City to do so. It will be CSU Pueblo’s first match of the week, as they will take on the Eagles and then face South Dakota Mines on Saturday night. First serve for Friday’s match between the ThunderWolves and Eagles is set for 5 p.m.