The Chadron State College volleyball team improved to 2-3 in non-conference play on Friday evening in the Chicoine Center. The Eagles downed the winless Minot State University Beavers in four sets in front of its first home audience of the season.
“I liked the way we stayed aggrgessive throughout all four sets,” said Head Volleyball Coach Jennifer Stadler. “even though the match got pushed back over an hour. We had some great moments, and we need to stay determined. We can’t allow ourselves to become timid at the end of the match.”
The Eagles dominated in hitting percentage, .211 to .123, yet they hit their best (.300) in the set two loss. The biggest difference in that set was that Minot hit at its best clip (.387) of the night by far, and got five of its eight service aces in the second frame.
CSC also led commandingly in aces (15), and total blocks (11 to 3), through four sets. It aced its opponent five times in both the third and fourth sets, and it picked up six team blocks in the first set.
The Eagles led most commandingly in the first set, when they racked up a 10-point, 25-15 victory in which the Beavers committed 10 of their 27 attack errors. MSU completed that segment hitting nearly -.100.
Sophomore outside hitter Alexandra Koontz went off for six kills to lead MSU’s winning effort in the second. She shared the team lead, along with fellow sophomore outside Emily Kotelnikoff, with nine kills in the match.
True freshman middle Bella Adams paced the Eagles with 13 kills and a hitting percentage of .478. She added five total blocks. Junior outsides Lexi Hurtado and Rylee Greiman added nine and eight kills, respectively.
Defensively, sophomore right side Mayson Fago recorded a team-high six total blocks. Senior libero Abby Schaefer led with 14 digs and 22 serve receptions.
In the earlier match of the night, the 2-3 University of Sioux Falls Cougars dealt the previously undefeated Yellowjackets of Montana State University-Billings their first loss of the season, in five sets.
Four more matches are slated for Saturday, beginning with Minot versus Sioux Falls at 9 a.m.