V-ball team hits road, drops 3

Coming out on top was not scheduled for the Eagles volleyball team this weekend. The Eagles lost three out of four games once again at the Black Hills State tournament this past weekend.

On the first day of the tournament, Minot State and Briar Cliff defeated the Chadron Eagles. Minot got the job done in four sets with scores of 25-11, 25-19, 18-25, 25-19. The previous weekend,  Chadron’s volleyball team had won against Minot in four sets. Against Briar Cliff College of Iowa, the game went to five sets, making the loss that much more upsetting.

“This team hasn’t played in a lot of five game matches in the past, so the loss to Briar Cliff was heartbreaking,” interim Coach Baily said. “I really wanted it for them to help build their confidence. Even though we lost the match, I was extremely proud of them for fighting and for being able to turn around and win the next match on Saturday morning.”

Mollie Jones, senior outside hitter of Longmont, Colo., had 16 kills against Briar Cliff and a .350 hitting percentage. On defense, Kristina Harter, senior libero of Colorado Springs, Colo., had 29- digs for the game. Justine Ackie, freshman setter of Phoenix, Ariz. led in assists with 28.

On Saturday, the Eagles captured their only win of the weekend against North Dakota’s University of Mary, three sets to one, while later losing to Augustana in three. Mallory Irvine, junior middle hitter of Ravenna, led the Eagles with 11 kills, and Harter tallied another 29 digs.

The volleyball team travels to Denver, Colo., to play Metro State at 7 p.m. on Friday and Regis at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Both teams are RMAC competitors, putting more pressure on the Eagles’ shoulders.

“We are looking forward to the conference play, even though it’s one of the hardest volleyball conferences in the country we are excited for the challenge and look forward to shocking some teams,” Baily said.