Four players had ten or more kills and the Chadron State volleyball team defeated South Dakota School of Mines in four sets to finish the weekend undefeated on Saturday night, improving its record to 5-12 overall and 3-5 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
“We played two of our biggest rivals this weekend and are very happy to end it with two wins,” Head Coach Riann Mullis said.
Freshman Aracely Hernandez led the team for the second night in a row, with 15 kills. Shelby Schouten and Brooke Gardner each had 11 kills and Chandler Hageman had 10. Hageman once again led the team in blocks with four.
Three players had double digit digs for the Eagles. Ashton Burditt recorded 22 and Karli Noble had 11. Setter Madison Webb finished with a double-double for the second night in a row with 45 assists and 14 digs.
The Eagles started the night with the same energy that they had Friday night, opening with an 8-1 lead. They continued to dominate set one, winning 25-12. In the set, the Eagles hit .520 as a team.
Set two saw the Hardrockers win 25-22. The Eagles held a 19-15 lead, but the Hardrockers scored six straight on their way to winning.
Set three and four both saw five lead changes and a combined 25 ties, 12 in set three and 13 in set four. The Eagles won both 25-23. Hernandez scored the final two points of set four to seal the victory for CSC.
“Aracely [Hernandez] doesn’t play like a freshman,” Mullis said. “When we recruited her we knew she was going to be an immediate impact for us.”
Dana Thomson had a match high 18 kills to lead the Hardrockers. Shyann Bastian recorded 38 assists and Tana Dahlberg led the team with 15 digs.
“This weekend really set the tone for what we can do,” Mullis said. “We’ve been talking about it, but now it has actually been implemented. We’re halfway through our season and just need to keep building.”
The Eagles hit the road again this weekend as the travel to St. George, Utah, Friday, to face Dixie State before they face the Westminster Griffins, Saturday, in Salt Lake City.