(Brock Voth, CSC Sports Information)
The Chadron State College volleyball team got their first conference win on Saturday evening, beating New Mexico Highlands in four sets (18-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-16) at the Chicoine Center.
The Eagles improved to 3-7 and 1-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while the Cowgirls fell to 3-7 with losses in their only two league matches.
After dropping the first set, the Eagles won the next three to secure their third win on the season.
The Eagles relied on their defense, registering 10 total blocks as team. They were led by sophomore Amber Harvey with 3 on the night.
Senior Abby Schaefer had 21 digs to continue her solid year defensively.
The offense was also on the attack when needed with a hitting percentage of .218, and a total of 52 kills led by sophomore Aiyana Fujiyama, and freshman Bella Adamas with 12.
Anissa Hernandez carried the Cowgirls with 13 total kills.
After the first set, the Eagles opened up the second set trading blows with the Cowgirls, but closed the set on a 5-1 run. The momentum never stopped for the Eagles. They only allowed the Cowgirls to take the lead one other time through the entire match, and that was to open the fourth set.
During the third set, the Eagles opened up on a 7-3 run, but allowed the Cowgirls to get close by tying it at 13-13. However, the Eagles pulled out another 7-3 run to propel them towards a win to go up 2-1 on the night.
The momentum the Eagles created at the end of third set carried into the fourth where they opened up with 10-3 lead. The Eagles never let the Cowgirls have a chance to get back in the match as they ended up winning the set, and their first conference match. The Cowgirls had a .000 hitting percentage while the Eagles had a .158
The Eagles will be on the road next week as they visit Black Hills State on September 16, and South Dakota Mines on September 17.