Mayson Fago eclipsed 1000 career kills and the Eagles defeated South Dakota Mines in three sets Thursday evening, 25-18, 26-24, and 25-16.
Since the matches are played in a pod with CSC, South Dakota Mines and Blacks Hills State, they do not count against conference records. The Eagles improved to 8-5 overall and remain at 3-1 in RMAC play.
Fago, a senior from Evans, Colorado, finished with a team high 12 kills and hit .478 while the Eagles hit .252 as a team.
The Hardrockers led set one 8-6 before the Eagles manufactured a 11-2 scoring run to gain the lead and win the set.
The Eagles once again overcame an early deficit in set two. After trailing 5-1, CSC tied the set at ten and the two teams stayed within two points for the remainder of the set. The Hardrockers led 24-23 but CSC scored the next three points after two attack errors by their opponent and a Fago kill.
Set three saw the two teams tied at 14 before Chadron State had a 14-2 run to win the set and match.
Lexi Hurtado, a graduate student from Aurora, Colorado finished second for CSC with nine kills while Aiyana Fujiyama and Bella Adams each added eight. Fujiyama, a junior from Wahiawa, Hawaii, hit an outstanding .800, while Adams, a sophomore from Pueblo, Colorado hit .400.
Setter Kendyl Kirkwood, a junior from Fleming, Colorado had 36 assists in the match.
Defensively, three Eagles finished with double-digit digs. Alondra Hernandez, a junior from Provo, Utah led the team with 15 in the victory. Rylee Greiman, a graduate student from Windsor, Colorado and Kirkwood each added 11.
Kally Kirkwood, a freshman from Fleming, Colorado led the team with four blocks while Fujiyama and Adams each had two.
Tomorrow, the Chicoine Center will be the location for a matchup between South Dakota Mines and Black Hills State at 6 p.m. The Eagles return to action at 3 p.m., Saturday when the host the Yellow Jackets.