Chadron’s Bird Cage gym hosted a pair of volleyball games Tuesday featuring the home town Cardinals and the Lady Crusaders from St. Agnes. Game one had the Cards taking down the Academy in 3 hard fought sets in the JV matchup. Chadron also bested the Crusaders in the varsity contest, defeating SA in 2 sets. With the loss, the Academy varsity squad has a 1 and 2 record on the year. It was the JV’s teams first game of the season and they fell to 0 and 1. Seventh grader Kale Hulquist was Alliance’s top scorer in the varsity battle with 3 points and 2 kills. Also scoring 3 points was Alexis Shelmadine. Leading the offense in the Junior Varsity matchup was Avery Breen who tallied 11 points while Willow Hampton scored 9 points.
In the opener, the play was very even. The Cardinal JV club rallied from an early deficit to take the first set 25 to 18. Hampton started the game with 4 straight points to help the Crusaders get off to a solid start. Later in the set, a point by Alliance’s Nala Reza put the guests ahead 6 to 4. Five consecutive points by Breen later in the opener then gave the Lady Crusaders a nice margin at 12 to 5. Chadron accounted with a solid spree in the middle, outscoring the visitors 9 to 3 to draw close. Two more points by Hampton made the score 18 to 14 with the Academy up but the set came to a conclusion with 11 in a row by the hosts. Set one Chadron 25 Alliance 18
Set 2 was a thriller. Early on it was all Cardinals as Chadron roared to a 8 to 0 advantage. An ace serve by Reza stopped the run for Alliance. Down 12 to 5, an ace serve by Peyton Lauder got the Crusaders close. It was followed by 2 more points by Lauder, making it a 12 to 8 contest. More aces by Breen and Hampton then ensued which sliced the Alliance gap to 2. A kill by Natalie Mullen was followed by a point by Reza to keep the Crusaders in the hunt. Down 23 to 20, St. Agnes sent Breen back to the service line and she responded with 4 straight to give the Academy a lead at 24 to 23. The set closed with another tally by Hampton and a kill by Reza. Set two Alliance 26 Chadron 24
Chadron was the aggressor in the final set. The Cards pulled away to take the set 15 to 8. Alliance would get 2 third set points by Mullen, a kill by Reza, and another Breen score but it wasn’t enough. The set was knotted at 5 before the hosts took control.
SA JV 18 26 8
CHAD JV 25 24 15
Stats Mullen 2 kills 2 points Lauder 3 points Breen 11 points Reza 3 points 2 kills Jamisyn Rasmussen 1 point Hampton 9 points
After a slow start, the Lady Crusader Varsity team battled in the opening set before falling 25 to 19. Chadron stormed to a 7 to 2 lead. Alliance got a kill by Delaney Jelinek to stop the run. A pair of points by Grace Shrewsbury followed to make it a 2 score game at 7 to 5. In the middle of the set, two kills by Hulquist plus a point by the 7th graders kept the margin small. Addison Intermill then added an ace serve as the Crusaders pulled with one. The margin stayed close with Alexis Shelmadine scoring twice for the Academy. Points by Alliance’s Aubrey Dudden and Hulquist in the final moments gave the Academy hope but three straight by the Cardinals finished off the set.
Set one Chadron 25 Alliance 19
Momentum stayed with the hosts in set 2. An early Shelmadine tally tied the game at 2 but three in a row by the Cardinals helped Chadron surge ahead. Kills by Quinn Robertson and Hulquist pulled St. Agnes close at 5 to 4 but it was all Chadron after that. The Lady Cards put together a big rally, outscoring the Academy 20 to 4 in getting the second set win 25 to 6.
SA Varsity 19 6
CHAD Varsity 25 25