Savage Storm Closes Out Invite with Pair of Losses

BILLINGS, Mont. – D'Nari Mills turned in another huge offensive outing with 38 kills over two matches but Southeastern came out on the short end of both decisions with a 3-0 loss to Mary before ending the weekend with a 3-1 loss to host Montana State-Billings at the Yellowjacket Invitational in Billings, Mont.
 
The losses drop the Savage Storm to 1-3 to open the season with another four-match weekend on the horizon when they travel to the Bettye Wallace Invitational in Arkadelphia, Ark., Sept. 8-9.
 
"Tough 3 set loss to a regional team," said Head Coach Nicole Solum-Mitchell following the match one loss, "But the positive thing about this is it's in our control. We made too many errors at the wrong time. We need to continue to gain confidence in who we are and what we can do."
 
In that matchup, Mills turned in 14 kills to lead the offense, while Sandra Acheampong followed with eight, while Noelia Rocha and Faith Krubbe added seven apiece.
 
Ruthie Forson would finish with 36 assists while chipping in four kills and 10 digs.
 
Patience Lewis led the defense with 15 digs, while Mills added 12, with Forson and Peyton Kriegel adding 10 each.
 
All three sets were tight as the Storm fell 25-23 in the opener, 25-20 in set two and 25-21 in the final set.
 
"We need to finish," said Solum-Mitchell of the weekend finale. "We did a great job of getting to 20 and then we error ourselves out of the match. We are moving forward with lessons learned and ready to compete again next weekend. Offensively D'Nari continues to dominate and Sandra had a great match adding 12 kills."

Mills would turn in her second 20-plus kill match of the weekend in the finale as she posted 24 kills and added a team-best 18 digs.
 
Acheampong was next in line with 12 kills while Rocha chipped in eight.
 
Forson pitched in across skills with nine kills while also handing out 43 assists and posting 14 digs to just miss a triple-double.
 
Southeastern would score four of the final five points of the first set to pick up a 26-24 win, but MSUB would even the match at 1-1 with a 26-24 win in set two.
 
The Yellowjackets would go on to take sets three and four by matching scores of 25-23 to set the final at 3-1.