By Paxton Ritchie
CSC Sports Information Director
SPEARFISH, S.D. – Chadron State volleyball took a two-set lead but couldn't hold it, falling in five sets on the road to Black Hills State – 13-25, 18-25, 25-19, 29-27, 15-8 – in a nonconference matchup to conclude the RMAC's regional pod week on Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles, now 4-10 on the season, are also 0-3 in five-set matches this year. They will have two more chances to beat Black Hills State (5-9) later this season, facing the Yellow Jackets in an RMAC contest in Spearfish on October 21, then hosting BHSU as part of the RMAC's Power Pod in the Chicoine Center on October 30.
After CSC was relatively cruising through the night's first two sets, the match seemed to turn during the marathon fourth set. A Gibson Beckler kill gave Chadron State a 24-22 lead with two match points to earn the win, but Black Hills State's Carsyn Mettler answered with a kill and a solo block to tie the score.
Chadron State had three other match points in the set – taking leads at 25-24, 26-25, and 27-26 from two Mataya Ward kills and a BH attack error – but each time, the Yellow Jackets answered with a point to extend the match. By contrast, when the Yellow Jackets took a 28-27 lead (their first in the set since 16-15), BHSU converted their first set point with a Randi Wellhoefer kill.
After that emotional sequence juiced up the home crowd at the Donald E. Young Center, Black Hills State capitalized on the momentum and never trailed in the deciding fifth set. The Yellow Jackets reached the final margin of victory by taking a 10-3 lead, eventually winning 15-8.
The fourth set featured 18 ties and nine lead changes. Black Hills State had 20 kills in the fourth set and had a team hitting percentage of .400 in the fifth set. While Chadron State hit .400 in the second set, the team could not hit better than .154 in sets three, four or five.