GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Chadron State fell victim to some late-in-the-set scoring runs by Colorado Mesa, which came from behind in the final two sets to earn a sweep over the Eagles – 25-12, 25-23, 26-24 – in Brownson Arena in Grand Junction Friday night. 

The Eagles led 21-20 in the second set, then had three set points with a 24-21 advantage in the third, only for the host Mavericks to reel off five consecutive points to steal the set and seal the match. 

The result drops CSC's record to 5-18 overall and 1-10 in the RMAC. Colorado Mesa improved to 13-9 and 7-4. 

Kally Kirkwood hit .300 and tallied a team-high nine kills for Chadron State against the Mavericks while Shelby Harding and Mataya Ward added eight kills apiece. Harding also contributed 12 digs, one behind libero Avery Lacy (13) for the team lead in that category. 

Chadron State tallied seven blocks on the evening, with senior Bella Adams involved in six of them (two solo and four block assists). That six-block total by Adams ties her own mark from October 10 against Adams State and Chloe Grady from last Saturday against New Mexico Highlands for the individual single-match high by a Chadron State player this season. 

The Eagles hit .140 for the match while the Mavericks hit .240. The teams were relatively even in kills, with CMU having a slight 44-40 edge, but the Eagles made 23 errors (t-3rd most in a match this season) to plummet their percentage aided by nine CMU blocks. The Mavericks only had 14 errors. 

Despite the loss, Chadron State did well to make the match competitive again after a nightmare first set that saw the Mavericks outhit CSC .423 to .100 while adding four service aces in the set to more than double up the Eagles' score in a 25-12 set win. 

In set two, Chadron State took its first lead of the match with a 3-0 run that saw Gibson Beckler hit back-to-back kills, then assist Shelby Harding's kill to give the Eagles a 6-5 lead. Neither team would lead by more than two points for the entirety of the set, but the Mavericks won five of the final seven points to pull out a 25-23 second set win. 

The two squads stayed neck-and-neck for most of the third until the Eagles made a move with a 5-0 run to take a 23-19 lead. After a Mataya Ward kill and Avery Lacy ace, the Eagles ended three consecutive points with a block, as Adams denied one on her own before combining with Kally Kirkwood for the next two. 

Although the Mavericks won two points to cut the four-point cushion in half, Kirkwood hit a kill to give the Eagles three set points to extend the match to a fourth set. Unfortunately, CSC would not score again, with the Mavericks tying the score on two kills and an Eagle error before ending the match with back-to-back blocks. 

Chadron State will travel further west to Salt Lake City to face Westminster on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. The Griffins are 14-9 overall and 6-5 in the RMAC after sweeping Regis at home on Friday.