TWIN FALLS, Idaho – The Hutchinson Community College volleyball team pushed two of the top seven teams in the nation hard on Friday at the CSI/Starr Invitational, but the 19th-ranked Blue Dragons came up empty on Day 1.

Hutchinson took the first set from No. 3 College of Southern Idaho, but wound up falling in four 25-22, 24-26, 20-25, 15-25. The Blue Dragons were then swept by No. 7 Salt Lake 25-22, 26-24, 25-21.

Hutchinson falls to 3-4 for the season. The Blue Dragons will close out their season-opening nine-match road trip on Saturday against Snow College at 10 a.m. CT and North Idaho College at 2 p.m. CT.

Against College of Southern Idaho, freshman Jai Chapman pounded down a team-high 13 kills, while sophomore Lauren Darby had 10 to lead HCC against the perennial national power Golden Eagles. Sophomore Nicole Kinser added six kills.

The Blue Dragons offset an .092 team hitting percentage with 10 total blocks. Freshman Petra Silic and Kinser had five blocks each.

Freshman McKenzie Steele had a team-high 15 digs against CSI. Freshman setter Tarynn Stueder had 21 assists. Freshman Aubrey Wilson had 12 assists.

HCC had a season-high 10 service aces. Stele and Stueder had three aces each.

Chloe Watson had a match-high 17 kills on .324 hitting to lead College of Southern Idaho.

The Eagles out-hit the Blue Dragons .285-.092.

After going nearly point-for-point with CSI in the first two sets, the Eagles dominated the final two sets, out-hitting the Dragons. 414-.038 in the fourth set.

Kinser led the Blue Dragons against a tough-serving Salt Lake team. Kinser had 11 kills, hitting .529 for the match on 17 swings. Darby finished with eight kills on .375 hitting.

HCC had seven team blocks and four service aces. Stueder had 15 assists, while sophomore Rachel Griffitt and Steele tied for a team high in digs with five.

The Hutchinson-Snow College match will be streamed live by the College of Southern Idaho Sports Information Department. The HCC-NIC match will not be streamed.