GOLDEN, Colo. – Led by double digit kills in consecutive games from seniors Makenna Rockeman and Bria Barfnecht, the University of Sioux Falls Volleyball Team (1-1) opened the season by splitting a pair of matches at the Oredigger Classic on Friday. The Cougars dropped a 3-1 decision to No. 12 Palm Beach Atlantic (2-0) and defeated Davenport (0-2), 3-0. 

In the two matches Barfnecht had a combined 24 kills on 46 attacks for a .348 hitting percentage while adding 17 digs and five total blocks. With her 24 kills, Barfnecht now has 718 kills, which moved her to fourth on USF's all-time chart. Rockeman totaled 22 kills on 57 attacks for a .246 hitting percentage as she also had seven digs and one block.  Rockeman is second all-time at USF with 1,049 kills, just 46 from taking over the all-time kills lead at USF held by Emily Johnson with 1,094 from 2012-14.

USF will take its 1-1 mark into a pair of matches on Saturday with the Cougars battling California State East Bay at 2 p.m. and host school No. 20 Colorado School of Mines at 5 p.m.

No. 12 Palm Beach Atlantic 3 Sioux Falls 1
After a fast start, the Cougars battled throughout but dropped a 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 17-25, 23-25) decision to No. 12 Palm Beach Atlantic (2-0) in the season opener at the Oredigger Classic on Friday.

Seniors Bria Barfnecht, Lexi Scott and Makenna Rockeman all recorded double digit kill totals in the setback. Barfnecht had 13 kills on 24 attacks to hit a team-best .333 while adding nine digs and four total blocks. Scott provided 10 kills on 23 attacks and a .304 hitting percentage with four total blocks. Meanwhile Rockeman had 10 kills on 30 attacks with a 167 hitting mark. Krista Goerger added 35 assists.

Overall, PBA outhit USF, .243 (55 kills on 133 attacks) to .232 (50 kills on 125 attacks). USF had 21 errors and PBA 22 while both teams registered 10 blocks.

In the opening set, Barfnecht hit .571, converting five kills on seven attacks with five digs to help USF to a 25-21 win. USF opened up a 20-13 lead on a 12-9 kill advantage. PBA closed on an 8-5 run but USF held off the charge.

Things appeared promising for USF in the second set when a service ace from Averey Yaksich helped USF take a 10-9 lead. With Yaksich's three kills USF built a 16-14 lead over PBA. Later, PBA rallied with five straight points for a 22-18 advantage.  USF fought back to within 22-21 on Barfnecht's eighth kill of the match. However, PBA closed with the final three points. In the set, PBA had a .344 hitting percentage with 17 kills on 32 attacks while USF hit just .219 with 11 kills on 32 attacks.   

In the third set, PBA jumped to a quick 5-2 lead with three kills on three attempts. After falling down 18-12 in the third set, the Cougars rallied to within 18-16 after a pair of kills by Scott and one from Yaksich to cut the deficit to 18-16. However, PBA closed with a 7-1 run to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

In the fourth set, USF jumped out to a 6-2 lead after Barfnecht's 11^th kill. With her 12th kill of the match, Barfnecht helped USF to a 13-12 lead. Then, USF tallied three straight points for a 16-12 margin and led 20-17 before PBA closed on an 8-3 run to take the set and match.   

Sioux Falls 3 Davenport 0
In the win over Davenport, the Cougars rolled to a 3-0 decision (25-16, 25-17, 25-19), dominating the match from start to finish.

USF was led by Rockeman with 12 kills on 27 attacks for a .333 hitting percentage. She added four digs and a block assist. Barfnecht had another solid match with 11 kills on 22 attacks for a .364 hitting percentage. She added eight digs and a block assist. USF also had eight kills on 19 attacks for a .368 hitting percentage from Averey Yaksich, who supplied seven digs and five block assists. Kasandra Springer had a team-high 10 digs while Krista Goerger had 23 set assists and seven digs.

Overall, the Cougars hit .293 as a team, converting 42 kills on 99 total attacks. USF had eight service aces, including three from Yaksich and Springer, while registering 48 digs and eight total team blocks.

The Cougars rolled to a 25-16 decision in set one as they hit .333 with 11 kills on 27 attacks. The match was close in the early going as USF broke from a 12-11 advantage with a 7-to-2 run, including kills from Rockeman, Lexi Scott and Rockeman, for a 19-13 lead. From there, USF outscored DU, 6-3, to seal the set on Abby Feyereisen's kill.

In the second set, USF converted 16 kills on 35 attacks while DU was at .057 on eight kills on 35 attacks. After DU opened up a 2-0 lead, the Cougars took over on a 17-4 run for a 17-6 advantage. In that run, Barfnecht had four kills and Rockeman, three. DU attempted to rally, closing on an 11-8 run but Rockeman's set-ending kill put USF up 2-0 in the match.

In a 25-19 verdict in the third set, USF had a .297 hitting percentage with 15 kills on 37 attacks. DU was able to record just nine kills on 37 attacks for a .054 hitting percentage. Led by two kills from Feyereisen, USF opened up a 7-3 advantage. USF moved the margn to 15-8 when Springer had a service ace. With a 10-7 run, DU cut the lead to 22-18. Consecutive kills from Yaksich and Scott ended the set, cinched the match and gave USF its first win of the season.