Eagles Lose Five Set Thriller To Griffins

The Westminster Griffins defeated the Chadron State College volleyball team in five sets Saturday evening in the Chicoine Center, winning 25-20, 20-25, 8-25, 25-17 and 15-11.
 
CSC falls to 11-9 overall and 5-5 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
 
Both teams traded scores early in sets one and two before a scoring run determined the winner. In set one, the Eagles led 12-9 before the Griffins scored 11 of the next 13 points to gain the lead and set victory.
 
Set two saw Westminster leading 16-14 before CSC scored eight of the next ten points to gain the lead and set victory.
 
The Eagles dominated set three with multiple scoring ones. Tied 1-1, CSC scored the next eight points to gain a 9-1 lead. Midway through, the Eagles scored ten straight points to extend their lead to 21-5 before winning the set.
 
The Griffins scored the first four points and five of the last six in set four on their way to tying the match at two sets apiece.
 
CSC led 10-9 in the fifth and final set before the Griffins ended the set with a 6-1 scoring run that included five kills for the visitors. Westminster used the scoring run to earn the match and set victory.
 
Chadron State and Westminster finished the match hitting .219 and .218, respectively.
 
Lexi Hurtado, a graduate student from Aurora, Colorado and Mayson Fago, a senior from Evans, Colorado each had 12 kills to lead CSC.
 
Aiyana Fujiyama, a junior from Wahiawa, Hawaii, had a hitting percentage of .636 to go along with her eight kills. Mailei Myers led both teams with 14 kills and an attack percentage of .700 for the Griffins.
 
Chadron State’s setter Kendyl Kirkwood had 42 assists in the loss.
 
Defensively, three Eagles finished with double-digit digs, led by Alondra Hernandez. Hernandez, a junior from Provo, Utah had 27 while Hurtado and Avery Lacy, a freshman from Windsor, Colorado, added 15 and 10, respectively.
 
Bella Adams, a sophomore from Pueblo, Colorado, led CSC with three blocks and added nine kills offensively.
 
The Eagles are on the road next Friday and Saturday for matchups with New Mexico Highlands and Adams State in Alamosa, Colorado. The matches are apart of an RMAC Pod so do not count towards teams RMAC records.
 
Both matches will begin at 6 p.m.