Grizzly rally falls short against Eagles
CHADRON, Neb.— Despite getting career nights from four players, the Adams State College Grizzlies dropped a five-game decision to Chadron State College on Saturday night in the Armstrong Gym. The 15-30, 25-30, 31-29, 30-27, 16-18 loss dropped the Grizzlies to 11-9 overall and 6-7 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play, while the Eagles improve to 11-10 overall and 6-7 in the RMAC.
ASC got a rare triple-double from senior setter Monica Garcia, who finished the night with a career-high 12 kills to go along with 48 assists and 13 digs. The effort was Garcia's first career triple-double. Kallee Bingham, a junior from Mesa, Ariz. also had a career night in kills with 13 and was one dig shy of her first career double-double.
Carly Simpson, playing back in her usual libero slot, had a career-high 32 digs, as did sophomore Sheena Brundage, who had 24 digs on the night. Jocelyn Garcia nearly matched the career-high dig total she set last night against Colorado School of Mines, ending the match with 25.
CSC cruised to victory in game 1 as, ASC started the match with five straight attacking errors, including three Eagle blocks. The Grizzlies got their first point on an Emily Bussey kill, one of her eight, to make it 5-1. The two teams then traded points before an Eagle service error made it 10-4. CSC then went on a four-point run to open the game up en route to the win.
In game 2, the Grizzlies found themselves down 24-13 before clawing their way back into the game, eventually making it 25-20 behind back-to-back blocks from the Grizzly front line. CSC then rattled off two straight points, before giving ASC some hope. The Grizzlies staved off two match points on kills by Brundage and Brittany Muchmore, but gave away the game on a Brundage service error.
Game 3 proved to be a hard-fought victory for the Grizzlies, as they let CSC go on a 5-0 run early in the game. Down 11-4, ASC slowly started chipping away at the Eagle lead, but did not tie the score until it was 28-all. Needing to win this game to force a fourth game, ASC used Bingham kill to take a 30-29 lead and a Bingham/Thomas block to take the win. The Grizzlies took six of the final seven points in that game.
Game 4 was another close battle as the two teams fought to ten ties, the last coming at 27-27 before the Grizzlies took the final three points of the game to push the match to the decisive fifth game.
In a reverse of game 1, ASC jumped out to a 5-0 lead, and led most of the way through until three straight attacking errors gave the Eagles an 12-11 lead. Both teams would then trade points, forcing ties at every point before Thomas gave the Grizzlies a match point with one of her kills. An Amanda Green/Alysia Wardyn block, one of the Eagles' 15, tied the game once again at 15-15. A Thomas attacking error and a Mandy Morgan service error again tied things up at 16 before two straight Eagle kills gave CSC the game and match victory.
Neither team had an outstanding hitting night, as the CSC finished the night with a .190 percentage while attacking errors and 131 total Eagle digs dropped ASC's percentage to just .099. CSC got double-digit kill nights from four players, including 19 from Wardyn and 18 from Kelly Kraus. Three of those four also finished with double-digit digs, topped by Kraus' 29.
The Grizzlies return home next weekend to face CU-Colorado Springs and Colorado State-Pueblo as they begin the second round of West Division opponents. CSC have nationally ranked Nebraska-Kearney and Fort Hays State on their slate for next weekend.
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