ABERDEEN, S.D. --- The South Dakota Mines Hardrocker Volleyball team competed in day two of the Northern State Classic on Thursday.

The first match was against the 19 ranked team in the country, the Northern State University Wolves, and the second game was played against New Mexico Highlands University.

Northern State

The first set was a battle with each team countering each other, not allowing any big runs, and going point for point. The Hardrockers called a timeout in the first set, down 11-8. After the timeout, the Hardrockers fought back to take the 18-17 lead thanks to an 8-3 run in which Victoria Zagorski grabbed two kills. The two teams would continue to battle, however, the Hardrockers would take the set 25-23, getting three kills from Jacey Koethe to lead a balanced attack.

The second set saw the Hardrockers get off to a fast start, forcing Northern State to call a timeout with South Dakota Mines leading 10-6 led by Emma Grimm with two kills, and an Ace. That would not slow the Hardrocker momentum, forcing another Northern timeout with the score at 13-6. South Dakota Mines would keep their foot on the gas pedal, however expanding the lead to 17-6 for a run of 12-1. The Hardrockers dominated the set from start. After a pair of Lily Bartling kills made the score 22-12, Northern State would begin to make their run, first forcing a Hardrocker timeout with the deficit at 22-15. They would continue their momentum, scoring three more points unanswered to cut the Hardrocker lead to 22-18, before the Hardrockers would answer with two points on kills from Zagorski, and Grimm to get to set point. South Dakota Mines would close out the set on a Dejah Behrend kill to give them the 25-20 win.

Heading into the third set up 2-0, the Hardrockers and Wolves would battle for the first few points with Northern State getting out to an early 5-3 lead. Northern State would keep the advantage, expanding their lead to 10-5, before the Hardrockers would start to fight back, cutting into the lead at 12-8, and then again, cutting it to 15-12, before really getting back into it, and bringing the deficit to 15-14, leading to a Northern State timeout. Northern State would come out of the timeout and expand the lead to 19-14. The Hardrockers would try to battle back but the Wolves would keep them at arms reach winning the third set, 25-19.

The Hardrocker held a 2 set to 1 lead going into the fourth set. South Dakota Mines would take an early 4-2 lead after forcing three straight Northern State errors. Another error, a Behrend kill, and an ace from Koethe would lead to a Northern State timeout, trailing the Hardrockers 7-3. Coming out of the timeout Northern State scored three straight points to cut the deficit to 8-6 before a Barling kill would end the run with the Hardrockers leading 9-6. The two teams would battle back and forth over the next few minutes, with the Hardrockers leading 10-9, they would expand the lead to 15-11 before Northern State would cut it closer once again. Each time the Wolves would cut it close, the Hardrockers would have an answer, this time it was kills by Koethe and Barling that gave South Dakota Mines a 17-13 lead. Northern State would once again battle back, tying it up 17-17, then taking an 18-17 lead, before the Hardrockers would tie it up again at 18. Northern State would take a 21-19 lead, forcing a South Dakota Mines timeout. Following the timeout, the Hardrockers made another push cutting the deficit to 23-22 thanks to a pair of kills by Koethe, forcing a timeout by Northern State. Out of the timeout, the Hardrockers would score another two points leading to match point at 24-23. A kill by Koethe sealed the set, and match with a 25-23 victory, winning the match 3-1.

"It is a huge win for our program over a powerhouse like Northern State," said head coach Lauren Torvi Prochazka. "We earned that win, we played tough, and put them in difficult situations" continued coach Torvi Prochazka, "Jacey and Dejah were electric for us, with their ability to control the floor," lastly coach Torvi Prochazka added, Lily Bartling has been incredibly solid for us and continues to be reliable on the pin."

New Mexico Highlands

The Hardrockers came out and performed well despite, the little break between the upset victory over Northern State and the next match.
 
The first set started quickly for the Hardrockers getting out to a 7-1 lead early with a balanced attack. Sydney Krites, Dejah Behrend, Jacey Koethe, and Lilly Barling all recorded a kill in that initial run. New Mexico Highlands would cut into the lead a bit, cutting their deficit down to 11-7, but the Hardrockers would keep control of the set, keeping the Cowgirls at arm's reach, maintaining 4-5 point leads the whole set, until a 3-point Hardrocker run gave them an 18-12 lead. The Cowgirls would pull a little closer, narrowing the deficit to 18-14 but that is the closest the Hardrockers would allow it to get, maintaining their lead and taking the first set 25-19.
 
The second set started similarly to the first, with the Hardrockers getting out to an early lead, this time it was a 4-1 lead. The Cowgirls would fight back to tie it up 4-4. The two teams would battle back and forth with neither team getting out to a significant lead throughout the entire set, however it was the Hardrockers who prevailed 25-23.
 
The third set started slowly for the Hardrockers, down 12-4 before they started to get rolling, scoring 3 straight points to get back into the game, down 12-7. New Mexico Highlands would answer back scoring two straight to expand the lead back to 14-7. New Mexico Highlands would mostly dominate the third set, leading it by a significant margin throughout, up 24-12 before the Hardrocker started to make their run. South Dakota Mines would score 4 straight points, but it would not be enough as the Cowgirls won set 3, 25-17.
 
 In the fourth set, The Hardrockers came out slow once again, this time getting down early, 9-3 before a stoppage in the match. South Dakota Mines would come out and score 6 of the next 7 points on a pair of kills by Crites, as well as kills by Grimm and Zagorski to cut the deficit to 10-9. Down 12-9, the Hardrockers would start rolling, first with 3 unanswered to tie up at 12, and then take a 14-13 lead, forcing a New Mexico Highlands timeout. Out of the timeout, the two teams went back and forth. Trailing 19-18, the Hardrockers would score two straight, to take a 20-19 lead, before the Cowgirls would tie it up again, then take the lead 22-20, forcing a Hardrocker timeout. The timeout was unable to stem the tide, however as New Mexico Highlands would take a 24-20 lead, and close out the set 25-21.
 
Going into a decisive set 5, it appeared that New Mexico Highlands had all the momentum, however, the Hardrockers came out energetic, scoring 2 of the first 3 points, then it was a back-and-forth battle. The Hardrockers went up 4-2, then the Cowgirls cut it to 4-3, before South Dakota Mines started to get rolling, scoring 2 straight, leading to a New Mexico Highlands timeout, trailing 6-3. The Hardrockers would keep the momentum going, however scoring 4 more points, to take a 10-3 lead, causing New Mexico Highlands to take a second timeout. South Dakota Mines would continue to roll, scoring 5 straight points to close the set 15-4, and the match 3-2.

About South Dakota Mines
The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and NCAA Division II offering 11 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic programs. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 members, as well as four associate members, located in the states of California, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah.