USF's volleyball team was beaten by the South Dakota School of Mines, 3-1 (25-13, 23-25, 25-21, 25-16) but came back to defeat Black Hills State in a five-set thriller (25-19, 22-25, 24-26, 25-19, 17-15) on Saturday at the South Dakota School of Mines Triangular in Rapid City.

The Cougars are now 5-16 overall.

Match One

USF struggled on offense against the Lady Hardrockers, recording only 46 kills in the match. The Cougars committed 28 unforced errors against the School of Mines.

Freshman Emily Johnson (Platte) tallied a double-double (16 kills, 16 digs) in the loss. Outside hitter Chanda Goedken (Farley, Iowa) also posted a double-double (12 kills, 19 digs). Freshman middle blocker Samantha Lovell (Bellevue, Neb.) contributed 12 kills, one block and two block assists.

Freshman setter Charlee Nelson (Mitchell) dished 42 assists.

Match Two

The Cougars rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat the Black Hills State Yellow Jackets in five sets.

USF got its offense in gear against BHSU; as a team, the Cougars combined for 74 kills and 27 errors in 172 total attempts.

Emily Johnson led the way for USF with a career-high 20 kills, while Samantha Lovell recorded 15 kills. Chanda Goedken and Sarah Kohler (Sioux Falls) each had 13 in the match.

Improving from match-to-match, Kohler hit .454 from her middle blocker position.

Alyssa Chambers (Sioux Falls) had 10 kills, while Charlee Nelson had 66 assists.

USF libero Tashayla Person (Shawnee, Kan.) led the Cougars defense with 35 digs, one of four players with at least 10. Nelson dug out 15 Yellow Jacket shots while Johnson added 14 digs.

Chambers tallied 10 kills and seven block assists.

USF will be back in action with three matches in the coming week. The Cougars will travel to Minot, N.D. on Monday to take on Jamestown at 6:00 p.m. and Minot State at 8:00 p.m. before heading to Madison to face Dakota State on Friday.