CHADRON, Neb. – Competitive sets ensued, but MSU Moorhead volleyball's spirited effort was not enough to overcome Chadron State to conclude opening day for the Dragons. The Eagles bested MSUM 3-1.
Chadron State would jump out in front early in the first set with a 13-7 lead. In the early going, the Eagles would connect on eight kills in 17 total attacks to MSUM's three kills on 21 attacks. Two service errors also set the Dragons back in the first frame. The host school would then go on a swift 3-0 run to push their lead to 17-9, forcing an MSUM timeout. By set's end, Chadron State held an 11-point advantage, 25-14, behind a .345 hitting clip.
The second set would see MSU Moorhead trailing early once again before rattling off six consecutive points to bring the score to 12-10 in favor of the Dragons.
Jocelin Feutz would connect on a kill to begin the run while
Tori Thompson added in a service ace in the same midst. That lead would get extended to five points (18-13) thanks to kills from
Bridget Witzmann and
Jadyn Feist as well as a service ace from
Emily Skalicky. While the Eagles would give the Dragons a scare late in the set, MSUM would hang on for a 25-19 set win.
MSUM had a .323 hitting percentage in the second set compared to their .027 clip in the first set. On the other end, the Chadron State offense would settle a bit with a .054 hit percentage and nine attack errors in the set.
Chadron State would gain a 13-9 lead in the third set as a pair of blocks and two Dragon service errors gave the Eagles an advantage. They would extend that lead to 20-12 later in the set as MSUM would total nine attack errors to that point in the frame. While MSUM would trim the lead to one point late in the set, Chadron State would take the win 25-23. The Dragons would outscore the Eagles 11-3 down the stretch, but 10 attack and four service errors proved detrimental to MSUM in the end.
In a decisive fourth set, Chadron State would outscore MSUM 14-8 to begin the frame with 11 of those 14 points coming from kills. In that stretch, the Eagles connected for a .556 hit percentage. As they did the entire day, MSUM would regroup to cut the Eagle lead to two points (19-17), which forced a Chadron State timeout. Ultimately, Chadron State would push towards a set and match victory with five unanswered points. The Eagles took the fourth set 25-19. The Dragons concluded the match hitting .140 on 150 total attacks.
Top Dragons
Up Next
The Dragons (1-1) are back on the floor tomorrow morning at the Chadron State College Tournament for a 10 a.m. match with York University (Neb.)
