Eagles battle through first home games
The CSC volleyball team split its weekend matches against a pair of South Dakota teams in its first home matches of the season.
The Eagles came away with a hard earned 3-2 victory against rival Black Hills State, Friday, but fell 3-1 against South Dakota Mines, Saturday.
“When you play a tough battle the night before, sometimes it’s hard to come back out the next day with the same amount of intensity and energy,” Jennifer Stadler, head volleyball coach, said. “We came out a little bit flat on Saturday. Just really couldn’t get a lot of things going and it just made a ton of errors on our side of the net.”
In contrast, a big defensive play by CSC freshman Aiyana Fujiyama, of Wahiawa, Hawaii, brought the Chicoine Center to life in the third set against the Yellow Jackets, Friday.
With her teammates scrambling to assist on defense, Fujiyama went one-on-one with BHSU outside hitter Madison Hoopman, junior of Douglas, Wyoming, blocking the attack and sending the ball onto the Yellow Jacket side of the court.
“It was so much fun,” teammate Amber Harvey, freshman of Centennial, Colorado, said. “Feeling the energy of everyone around you and them rooting for you to win was such a confidence booster, and it made everything so much more fun.”
Fujiyama had seven blocks and nine kills in the match.
Teammate Olivia Moten-Schell, sophomore of Billings, Montana, along with Harvey led in attacks in the win. Moten-Schell killed 13 of her 50 attacks while Harvey earned 19 kills of 43 attacks.
“Amber (Harvey) played extremely aggressive this past weekend,” Stadler said. “I thought she swung really aggressively, and she varied her shots.”
Saturday, CSC was unable to carry its momentum into their match with South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
Despite the loss to the Hardrockers, Harvey killed 11 of her 41 attacks, leading the Eagles in both categories.
Defensively, Harvey and Fujiyama both had three blocks. While Audrey Bennett, freshman of Lenexa, Kansas, and Rylee Greiman, junior of Windsor, Colorado, recorded 12 digs each against South Dakota Mines.
Stadler said the games will teach the team that it can battle, push itself and be competitive with the team across the net.
“We have to limit our errors on our side of the net and push to earn our own points instead of giving away a lot of points.”
The Eagles travel to Colorado to face Fort Lewis in Durango at 7 p.m., Friday, and Western Colorado University in Gunnison at 3 p.m., Saturday.