Chadron State Box
Black Hills State Box

ABERDEEN, S.D. – Led by break-out efforts by Kaleinani Kabilis and Macey Finizio and back-to-back 37-assist matches by freshman setter Drew Smith, the Northern State volleyball squad opened up the 2012 season with straight-sets wins over Chadron State and Black Hills State on Friday.  The matches were held as part of the NSU/Dacotah Bank Classic, a five-team, ten-match classic style tournament, which concludes with the final five matches on Saturday.
 
The wins marked the first time the Wolves started the season 2-0 since the 2008 season. 
 
NSU started off the weekend with a 3-0 win over Chadron State behind double-digit kill efforts from Kelsey Chambers (12), Jussy Tuscherer (11) and Kabalis (16), all career-highs for the newcomers.  Smith doled out 37 assists and guided the Wolves to a .265 hitting percentage at the net.
 
The Wolves also racked up seven service aces in that match and held the Eagles to a .101 percentage on attack to cruise to the 25=17, 25-19, 25-20 victory.
 
Match two featured a slightly altered line-up, but produced the same result – a straight-sets win (25-21, 25-23, 25-17) over Black Hills State.  Finizio got the start on the outside and responded with a career-best 19 kills on 32 swings while committing just three hitting errors.  Chambers chimed in with another ten kills as a .295 team attack percentage was enough to overcome a 13 service errors.
 
The Wolves also used a balanced defensive effort to hold BHSU to a .169 percentage at the net.  The Yellowjackets were led by Caitlin Templeton's seven kills, two service aces and five blocks.
 
NSU will close out the weekend with matches against Missouri Western State and NSIC newcomer Minot State tomorrow.  MWSU is the only other team in the tournament to go 2-0 on opening day as they downed Minot State 3-0 in the first match of the day before battling Chadron State to a 3-1 victory.  MSU was a straight-sets winner over Black Hills State earlier in the day, as well.