GOLDEN, Colo. – For the second straight day, the University of Sioux Falls Volleyball Team (2-2) split a pair of matches at the Oredigger Classic, led by all tournament selections and senior standouts Bria Barfnecht and Makenna Rockeman. On Saturday, the Cougars defeated Cal State East Bay (2-2), 3-1, and nearly upset host and No. 20 Colorado Mines (4-0) before falling, 3-2.

During the four matches of the classic, Barfnecht was outstanding with a team-high 59 kills on 111 attacks for a .387 hitting percentage.  While recording two double doubles, she added 40 digs, 13 total blocks and three service aces. During the tourney, Barfnecht moved into fourth on USF's all-time kills chart with 753. Rockeman had a double along with 39 kills, five service aces, 25 digs and three blocks. Rockeman had 39 kills and has 1,066 kills in her career or just 29 from the school record held by Emily Johnson with 1,094 in 2012-14. She also has 87 career aces or just one from second place held by Kate Hart with 88 in 2013-14.

Aside from the all-tourney standouts, USF also had strong performances from several others, including senior Lexi Scott, who was second with 41 kills and hit .333 with a team-high 19 blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Averey Yaksich had 38 kills, including a career-high 16 for a match against CSM, while adding 31 digs and nine blocks. Sophomore setter Krista Goerger led USF with 158 set assists or 9.88 per game. She had 11 kills and a .476 hitting percentage while totaling 29 digs, five blocks and tied Yaksich with a team-high six service aces.

As a team, USF had a 217-to-201 advantage in kills and outhit opponents, 285-to-210 or 13.6 or 12.6 per set. USF had 209-185 set assists edge and a 27-22 margin in aces with a 225-198 margin in digs.

The numbers advantage was something to build on, noted eighth year head coach Joel McCartney. "It is not often that your team wins almost every statistical category and loses a match as was the case against Colorado Mines," said McCartney. "But we competed really well against a strong team and had a great opportunity to win. We can use this loss and our performance this weekend as motivation heading into next weekend," he said.

At the Oredigger Classic, USF lost a 3-1 decision to #12 Palm Beach Atlantic before recording two straight wins with a 3-0 win over Davenport and a 3-1 conquest of Cal State East Bay. In the final match, the Cougars dropped a hard-fought, 3-2 decision to No. 20 Colorado Mines.

USF will travel to the Rockhurst Classic on August 31 to Sept. 1 with four matches, starting with Emporia State at 11 a.m., on Friday, August 31.

Sioux Falls 3 Cal State East Bay 1
Led by the play of Barfnecht and Scott, USF rallied to defeated Cal State East Bay, 3-1. A clear difference in the win was USF's hitting efficiency as they outhit CSEB, .325 (57 kills on 126 attacks) to .242 (60 kills on 153 attacks). While USF had 16 hitting errors, CSEB had 23.

Scott registered a season-best 18 kills on 27 attacks for a .593 hitting percentage while adding five block assists and three digs. Meanwhile Barfnecht had a double double with 15 kills and 11 digs while also adding three block assists and a service ace. Barfnecht had 15 kills on 29 attacks for a .379 hitting percentage as USF hit .325 (57 kills on 126 attacks) for the match. Rockeman had seven kills, five service aces, eight digs and two block assists.  Goerger was also solid with 48 set assists, eight digs and six kills on seven attacks for a .857 hitting percentage.

In the opening set, CSEB jumped to 13-9 and 15-10 leads before USF rallied to make the set close. With a 7-2 run, the Cougars tied the match at 17 as Yaksich, who had six kills and nine digs, and Kassandra Springer both had service aces and Scott added two kills. USF, which hit .333 (13 kills on 33 attacks in the set) took a 25-24 lead but CSEB took the final three points to grab a 1-0 lead.  

In set two, the Cougars jumped to a quick 9-4 advantage as Scott had three kills. Later CSEB rallied to within 14-11 but USF scored consecutive points to grab a 16-11 advantage. Kills from Rockeman, Scott and Yaksich stopped a short EB run as Cougars grabbed a 19-14 lead after tallying three straight points. Barfnecht's kill helped USF to a 22-17 lead as the Cougars cruised to a 25-19 win. USF had 14 kills on 28 attacks for a .393 hitting percentage, which was the best total by either team in the match.

After falling behind in the third set, 9-6, USF rallied to take a 14-12 lead as Barfnecht continued her outstanding play. With kills from Barfnecht and Scott, USF broke from a 22-22 tie to take a 24-22 lead and force a timeout by CSEB. With Scott finishing off the set with a kill, USF took a 2-1 lead. In the set, USF outhit CSEB, .367 (14 kills on 30 attacks) to .196 (17 kills on 46 attacks). 

In the final set, USF hit .229 (16 kills on 35 attacks) while CSEB was at .194 (11 kills on 31 attacks).

No. 20 Colorado Mines 3 Sioux Falls 2
Despite another stellar outing from Barfnecht, USF dropped a 3-2 (17-25, 25-13, 18-25, 25-17, 13-15) decision to No. 20 Colorado Mines. The Cougars trailed 2-1 and forced a fifth set with a 25-17 decision in set four. Then the Cougars fell behind early in the fifth set before drawing within 13-12 before CSM closed the set and match.

Barfnecht had a double double for the second straight match with a team-season-high 20 kills with 12 digs while recording five block assists. She hit .444 with her 20 kills on 36 attacks. Also with double doubles were senior Rockeman with 10 kills and 10 digs as well as Goerger, who had 52 set assists and 13 digs with two block assists. Yaksich tied a career-high with 16 kills on 39 attacks for a .308 hitting percentage. She had six digs and two block assists. Scott had eight kills and five block assists and junior Abby Feyereisen chipped in with nine kills on 14 attacks for a team-high .571 hitting percentage. She added four block assists.

USF and Colorado Mines both had solid hitting efforts with the Cougars recording 68 kills on 159 attacks for .289 while CSM had 60 kills on 166 attacks for .259. USF had slightly more attack errors, 22-17. USF also had 73 digs and 10 total blocks while CSM had 63 digs and nine total blocks.

CSM took the opening set off a solid hitting percentage of .371 (15 kills on 35 attacks) while USF hit .200 (13 kills on 35 attacks). CSM jumped to an 11-6 lead and extended the margin to 19-12. USF closed within 23-16 before CSM had a kill by Megan Neil to earn the first set.

USF rolled to a 25-13 win in the second set by hitting .500 (14 hits on 24 attacks with three errors). Meanwhile CSM hit -0.34 (six kills on 29 attacks with seven errors). The Cougars took the early lead this time, jumping to a 10-2 lead after a kill by Yaksich. She had another kill for a 20-10 lead and an attack error by CSM ended the match with USF tying the match at 1-1.

The third set also turned to CSM after the teams battled back and forth. The two teams had 13 ties before Neil's kill gave CSM a 17-14 lead. From there, the hosts closed on an 8-4 run to grab a 2-1 lead in sets. USF hit .219 (14 kills on 32 attacks with seven errors) but CSM was more efficient at .355 (14 kills on 31 attacks and three errors).

In the fourth set, the hitting percentage flipped back to USF. CSM hit .250 (14 kills on 40 attacks) but the Cougars had a .385 mark (17 kills on 39 attacks) with just two errors while CSM had four as USF took a 25-17 decision. Tied at 9-9, the Cougars took off on an 8-1 run to grab a 17-10 lead after Springer's ace. CSM closed within 23-17 but USF had two straight points, including a kill by Barfnecht to force a fifth set.

In the final set, CSM hit .323 and jumped to a 5-1 lead before USF rebounded. The Cougars, which hit .172 (nine kills on 29 attacks), had a kill from Feyereisen to draw within, 9-8. Down 13-9 the Cougars scored three straight points with Yaksich converting two kills to draw within a point at 13-12. USF received another kill from Barfnecht but Jin Lindsey ended the match with a kill for a 15-13 decision.