Volleyball strives for win

The Chadron State volleyball team played on its home court for the first time this year, and unfortunately, came away with two losses. The Eagles, now 3-12 overall, hop on the road to face Colorado Mesa and Fort Lewis.

On Friday, the Eagles came out hot in the first set, winning 25-23. The hitting percentage was .122, followed by a .092, .000, -.154 in the remaining three sets. A top hitter for Chadron was Mallory Irvine, junior middle hitter of Ravenna, who totaled 10 kills with a .304 hitting percentage for herself. Assisting her was senior outside hitter of Longmont, Colo., Mollie Jones with nine kills.

Leading on defense was Kristina Harter, senior libero of Colorado Springs, Colo., with 14 digs. Justine Ackie, freshman setter of Phoenix, Ariz., led in assists with 17. On Colorado Christian University’s side, freshman setter Jordan Carswell had a match high 48 assists, mostly using freshman outside hitter Taylor Strums and senior right side hitter Andi Weber, each accumulating 17 kills.

Following that loss, on Saturday the Eagles took on Colorado School of Mines, who is currently ranked 16th. CSM swept the Eagles 25-19, 25-21, and 25-19 to get the victory. The game had 15 ties and 10 lead changes. As a team, the Orediggers hit a .186 percent , while the Eagles only reached .095 percent.

For CSM, Melanie Wannamaker, junior of Kingwood, T.X., led with 13 kills and had help from teammates Sarah Pekarek and Holly Hutchinson who both spiked eight balls each.

On CSC’s offensive side, there was a tie for top hitter with Erika Roybal, sophomore outside hitter of Denver, and Mallory Irvine, junior middle hitter of Ravenna. Both athletes had only seven kills, a definite low for the Eagles. Ackie provided 17 assists for the night and 10 more were from Alyssa Bauer, sophomore of Rapid City, S.D.

There were moments where the Eagles shined, including a 6-point lead in the third set. However, CSM’s serves were too much to handle as five aces provided easy points and a returned lead to the Orediggers.

Coach Baily has had to do much reflecting and changing in order to try and help their offense. Drastic measures have had to be taken, including bringing up a medical redshirt.

“I pulled up a medical redshirt because I feel like she’ll increase the competition for us on offense,” Baily said.

Every season, an athlete would hope to improve and excel in whatever sport they play. For Mollie Jones, one of the three seniors on the team, that statement could not be more true. However, with not much change from season to season, Jones has found some ways to stay positive.

“We haven’t been getting wins, but I look at it as a positive season because the wins we have gotten are against teams we haven’t won against before. Also, our team chemistry is much better this year, making it more fun to play,” Jones said.

With team chemistry, each player brings something different, hoping it will add to the team as a whole. Jones keeps her attitude in check for the benefit of her team.

“I try to keep talking to them and stay level headed in hopes that they will stay level headed too,” Jones said. “It helps that our coaches stay positive as well.” Jones reiterated what Coach Baily has said in previous weeks. The CSC volleyball team has more fight in them than former seasons.

“This season is different because we can taste the win, we are hungry for it. Once we do, we will be on a roll. ”

An advantage that CSC will have toward the end of this season is the teams they play. Earlier in the season, the Eagles played more teams out of the East division who are at a higher level of competition than the West. The East division has five teams with winning records while the West division only has three. Even with this being said, Coach Baily knows that no team can be underestimated.

“One of the main things we need to do is keep focusing on our side of the court. We need to play at our level and not worry so much about the other teams,” Baily said.

This weekend the volleyball team travels to Grand Junction, Colo., first to play the Colorado Mesa Mavericks. On Saturday they will be in Durango, Colo., to take on the Fort Lewis Skyhawks.  Mesa is 11-3 overall while Fort Lewi is 7-7.

“We need to not let the 11 hour bus ride get to us and focus the whole time on these games and make sure we play at our level,”