RAPID CITY, S.D. --- The South Dakota School of Mines women's volleyball team kicked off its 2018 campaign at the Microtel and Travelodge Classic hosted by Minnesota State University – Moorhead in Moorhead, Minnesota, on Friday.

The Hardrockers squared off with MSU Billings to open the tournament and then finished the first day of matches against the host, MSUM Lady Dragons.

 In the first match of the day against the Yellowjackets, SD Mines put up a great fight and had a very competitive match but fell to their opponents, 3-2. MSU Billings defeated the Hardrockers, 22-25, 17-25, 25-22, 25-14, 15-11.

The 'Rockers came out on fire and with a lot of momentum, but MSUB was able to make adjustments and close out the bout with a win.

SD Mines finished the match hitting .192 percent, tallied 48 assists, six aces, 57 digs and eight total blocks while the Yellowjackets had a .240 hitting percentage with 60 kills, 56 assist, came away with 12 aces, had 75 digs and 11 total blocks.

Individually, SD Mines was paced by freshman Dana Thomson who collected 24 kills on 55 attacks and had a .309 hitting percentage. Senior Anna Breidt added 11 kills on 28 attacks and had a .286 hitting percentage. Freshman setter Shyann Bastian earned 28 assists for the 'Rockers while sophomore Emma Eckel posted 19. Defensively, junior libero Makinze Maiden came up with 19 digs while Bastian tacked on 11 and sophomore Tana Dahlberg grabbed 13.

In their final match of the day, SD Mines squared off against MSU Moorhead where the Lady Dragons came out on top, 3-1. The Dragons defeated the Lady Hardrockers, 22-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-17.

The 'Rockers finished the match with a .114 hitting percentage, notched 37 kills on 140 attacks, came up with 34 assists, 58 digs, five aces and 19 total blocks. MSUM finished the bout with a .133 hitting percentage, earned 48 kills on 143 attacks, posted 44 assists, nine aces, 70 digs and 11 total blocks.

Individually for the 'Rockers, Thomson paced her team with 15 kills on 51 attacks and had a hitting percentage of .137 while juniors Hannah Stevenson and Caryn Hazard both tallied six kills. Bastian added 31 of the team's 34 assists. Dahlberg came up with 12 digs, Thomson added 11 and Maiden had 10. Sophomore Lily Lundquist led the team with nine total blocks in the match while Bastian contributed with three.

The Hardrockers will be back in action Saturday, taking on the University of Mary at 8:30 a.m. (MST) and then close out the tournament against Minot State at 1:30 p.m. (MST).