Mills Powered SE to Opening Day Split in Montana

LLINGS, Mont. – D'Nari Mills amassed 38 kills over two matches, helping lead Southeastern to a 3-1 win in its season opener versus Minot State before the Savage Storm dropped its second outing of the day 3-1 against Black Hills State at the Yellowjacket Invitational in Billings, Mont.
 
The split matches move SE to 1-1 to open the season with the final two games of the event set for Saturday, with the Storm taking on Mary at 9 a.m. before closing the weekend against Montana State-Billings at 1 p.m.
 
"This was a great win against a regional team," said head coach Nicole Solum-Mitchell following the match one win. "We got the first game jitters out and came to compete. A Complete team win.
Ruthie did a great job of running a balanced offense and Peyton came in clutch with 5 services aces."
 
"A competitive loss to a solid RMAC team," Solum-Mitchell added later following game two. "It came down to us not limiting our errors. D'Nari has an offensive night for herself with 25 kills. We learn from it and move on to tomorrow."
 
In the season opener, SE would take a 1-0 lead with a 25-21 win in set one but see the match even up at 1-1 with a 26-24 loss in set two.
 
The Storm bounced back strong int the third set with a dominant 25-9 win to regain the lead before using a 26-24 win in set four to secure the 3-1 win.
 
Mills led the way in the matchup on offense with 13 kills, while Noeli Rocha added eight and Avynn La Rose chipped in seven.
 
Ruthie Forson dished out 25 assists to pace the offense, while Mills also led the way on defense with 18 digs.
 
Patience Lewis added 14 digs in the effort while Peyton Kriegel chipped in nine.
 
Forson, Sandra Acheampong, and Rhayan Earl each logged a pair of blocks as well.
 
In the nightcap, Mills nearly matched her career high as she posted 25 kills in the match, while Rocha was next in line with nine.
 
Forson finished the match with 38 assists and added five kills, six digs, and two blocks.
 
Lewis led the defense with a match-high 28 digs while Amaya Constantino followed with 10, while at the net Michera Moffett and Forson had two blocks each.
 
The first set was back and forth, featuring 16 ties and nine lead changes before BHSU would pull ahead for the 28-26 win.  They would also pick up set two in a narrow 25-23 margin to take a 2-0 lead.
 
Southeastern bounced back in the third set with a comfortable 25-13 win, but was unable to mount a rally with a 25-21 loss in the fourth set to make the final 3-1.