Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The South Dakota School of Mines women's volleyball team played two competitive matches Friday during the University of Sioux Falls Volleyball Tournament in Sioux Falls, S.D. Unfortunately, the Hardrockers came up short in both outings, falling to William Jewell College, 3-0, followed by a defeat at the hands of University of Minnesota-Crookston, 3-1.

In the first match, the WJC Cardinals defeated the Lady Hardrockers, 25-21, 25-20, 25-16.

"This was one of those matches that was hard to figure out at times," said SD Mines volleyball head coach Doug Tabbert. "When we were in system, we were very effective offensively. We were pretty inconsistent when we were out of system, however."

The Hardrockers ended the match with 35 kills and was 98-115 on the attack while collecting 34 assists, 48 digs and 15 total blocks. William Jewell was 95-110 on the attack with 38 kills, 37 assists and tallied 51 blocks and 11 total blocks.

"In general, inconsistency was a good descriptor of our play," Tabbert said. "We had good stretches but we struggled to maintain momentum. They defended very well, which certainly contributed to our struggle to take command of the match for more than a few points at a time."

Individually, for the Hardrockers, freshman Kenzie Devries was 22-26 on the attack with nine kills and six digs and junior Emily Newton collected eight kills while going 22-25 on the attack. Freshman Allie Boggs notched 21 assists and freshman Allie Brown led the team with 13 digs.

"Every match is a learning opportunity for a young team so we will learn a few lessons from this match and move forward," Tabbert added.
In the second match of the day for SD Mines, Minnesota-Crookston defeated the Hardrockers, 26-28, 25-22, 25-17, 25-20.

"Overall, it was an improvement over our performance from the first match so we are heading in the right direction," Tabbert said. "We lost the serving-passing battle which made things difficult. That allowed their middles to get it going offensively."

The Hardrockers went 99-117 on the attack with 31 kills to go along with their 28 assists, 56 digs and 9 blocks. Crookston had 61 kills and was 120-141 on the attack with 55 assists, 56 digs and 16 total blocks.

"We had a lot to try to stop despite the fact that we did a pretty decent job at limiting the impact of their go-to-hitters," Tabbert said. "All of the things we need were present at moments – we just need more consistency."

Individually for the SD Mines, sophomore Anna Breidt, freshman Caryn Hazard and Newton all finished with eight kills each. Boggs posted 24 assists while sophomore Elizabeth Jensen recorded 15 digs and Brown added 12.

The Hardrockers are back in action Saturday against Bemidji State and the University of Sioux Falls.