RAPID CITY, S.D. – The South Dakota Mines volleyball team opened RMAC play on Friday night which also was their home opener as they took on Regis at the King Center.
Regis has historically been a tough opponent for the Hardrockers and has been winless against the Rangers prior to this night, however, this night was different as the Hardrockers dominated throughout the entirety of the match in all facets of the game, behind the service line, at the net, defensively and attacking, on their way to a 3-0 sweep of Regis.
HOW IT HAPPENED
South Dakota Mines got the first wave of momentum in the match, scoring three unanswered to go up 5-1 after a double block by
Ivy Vindivich and
Annelise Larson. Later, a
Kiley Metzger ace gave SDM a four-point, 11-7 lead but the first set would be tight from there as Regis tied it at 16, then again at 18, but the grit of the 'Rockers was too much as back-to-back
Alessandra Meoni kills earned a two-point lead, and the set would close with three straight points in the Hardrockers favor.
The second set was utter dominance by South Dakota Mines as four straight kills by Meoni, Vindivich and two by Larson pushed the early advantage to 5-2. Three straight serves and an ace from
Rachel Mau pushed the lead to 10-4. Vindivich and Meoni would push the lead even further, to 19-10, before four straight points on kills from Vindivich,
Jenna Curtis and another pair of aces from Mau put the Hardrockers up 12, 24-12 and another kill by Curtis sealed the set.
The third set would be more of a battle with the two teams trading points, ties and the lead, at least early on, until a five-point unanswered run keyed by a trio of kills from Curtis, Vindivich and Meoni gave the Hardrockers a 12-8 advantage. From there, South Dakota Mines would keep Regis at arms reach for most of the set, until a late charge brought their deficit to 24-22, but Curtis would end it, taking the set 25-22 and the match 3-0.
NOTES
The Hardrocker trio of
Ivy Vindivich,
Alessandra Meoni and
Jenna Curtis is hard to defend as the trio combined for 39 kills and each hit above, .360 on the night…
Kiley Metzger continued her great start to the year, assisting on 35 kills and making zero errors…
Rachel Mau was great behind the service line, picking up four aces.
UP NEXT
South Dakota Mines looks to get another in the win column on Saturday, taking on UCCS for another 6:00 p.m. bout at the King Center.
You can find the latest on South Dakota Mines volleyball all year long on X and Instagram (@hardrockervb), while also following on Facebook at Hardrocker Volleyball. The latest on South Dakota Mines athletics can be found by following us on X at @GoHardrockers, hardrockerathletics on Instagram and Hardrocker Athletics on Facebook.
