By: John Murphy
CSC Sports Information Director
GOLDEN, Colo. -- The Chadron State College volleyball team defeated Colorado School of Mines in five sets Friday, the first victory for CSC over the Orediggers since 2007.
CSC improves to 5-3 overall and 1-0 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play with the victory. Colorado Mines falls to 5-4 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
The last time CSC defeated the Orediggers was in 2007 when the Eagles went 2-0 against Mines.
Friday, the Eagles fell in sets one and two 25-18 and 27-25, before winning the next three sets 25-19, 25-18 and 15-9.
Chadron State hit .313 as a team in the victory, compared to their opponents attack percentage of .262.
The Eagles started slow in the match, never leading in sets one and two. While trailing 9-5 in the third set, a Kally Kirkwood kill gained momentum for CSC. Chadron State slowly chipped away at the lead and took the lead 17-16.
After the Orediggers tied the set at 17, CSC manufactured an 8-2 scoring run to take the third set.
Chadron State never trailed in set four to tie the match at two sets a piece.
In set five, the two teams were tied at five a piece but a Mayson Fago kill gave CSC the lead for good, helping them earn the match victory.
Offensively, Lexi Hurtado had her best match of the season to start conference play. The graduate student from Aurora, Colorado recorded 20 kills with an attack percentage of .386.
Bella Adams, a sophomore from Pueblo, Colorado, led both teams with an attack percentage of .593 to go along with her 17 kills. Fago, a senior from Evans, Colorado, also finished in double-digit kills with 14.
Kendyl Kirkwood, a junior from Fleming, Colorado, set a new season high with 51 assists in the victory.
Defensively, junior Alondra Hernandez of Provo, Utah and Rylee Greiman, a graduate student from Windsor, Colorado both finished with double-digit digs. Hernandez finished with 21 while Greiman added 10.
Maddison Wright, a junior from Rawlings, Wyoming set a new career high with seven total blocks to lead both teams in the victory.
The Eagles return to action tomorrow at 4 p.m. when they face MSU-Denver, the conferences preseason favorite.