Volleyball downs three straight, seeking fourth against BHSU
Photo courtesy of Noelle Meagher
The CSC volleyball team is rolling with no end in sight after taking down three straight opponents, including two perfect sweeps against the Western Colorado Mountaineers, of Gunnison, and the South Dakota School of Mines Hardrockers, of Rapid City, this past Friday, Saturday, and Thursday at home.
The Eagles averaged a .201 hitting average through the three game stint, a far cry from the .147 hitting average they held two weeks ago against Wayne State and MSU Denver.
Last Friday’s game against the then 2-8 Mountaineers looked promising from the outside, and for the Eagles, promises were kept, barring some close calls towards the back half of each set.
Chadron State quickly jumped out to a lead in the first set and kept the Mountaineers at an arms length, winning the set, 25-22. Set two was much closer, going into extra serves, but behind the defensive hands of Bella Adams, sophomore of Pueblo, Colorado, who recorded eight total blocks in the match, the Eagles took set two, 28-26.
Set three matched suit with set one allowing the Eagles to take the 3-0 sweep.
Adams led offensively with 12 kills. Lexi Hurtado, graduate student of Aurora, Colorado, followed her up with 11 kills and two blocks. The Eagles strolled past the Mountaineers with a .228 hitting percentage, the third highest of the season.
However, the Eagles match against the Fort Lewis Skyhawks, of Durango, Colorado, on Saturday was not so easily handled. At the time of the game, the Eagles sat seventh in the RMAC, just one place ahead of the Skyhawks, so difficulty was expected.
The first four sets of the five set battle went back and forth, all ending within four points or less of each other.
Chadron State took the early match lead, taking the first set, 25-23. However, without hesitation, the Skyhawks quickly took the match lead winning set two, 25-21, and set three, 25-23. Not backing down and assisted by Mayson Fago, senior of Evans, Colorado, who recorded a game high 16 kills, the Eagles tied the match.
The Eagles now had a read on the Skyhawks and handedly took the fifth, 15-6. Apart from Fago, the Eagles were once again supported heavily by Adams, who landed another 12 kills and nine blocks.
The Eagles’ best game, by far, was Thursday’s game against the Hardrockers. Chadron State, for a lack of a better term, steamrolled the Rockers, who had beaten them previously in the season, three sets to one. Apart from a slower second set, ending in extra serves, the Eagles looked unstoppable.
Fago led once again, landing 12 kills, enough to record her 1000th career kill, in another 3-0 sweep against the Hardrockers. The Eagles improve to 8-5 in regular season play, 3-1 in RMAC play, and jump two spots to fifth in the RMAC, padding their chances of making the conference tournament.
Looking ahead, the Eagles seek a fourth straight win against the Black Hills State Yellow Jackets, of Spearfish, South Dakota, who are currently winless in RMAC play and 13th in the conference.
The Eagles will return when they take on the Yellow Jackets, at 3 p.m., on Saturday, at home in the Chicoine Center.