CHADRON – Chadron State College's volleyball team will be hosting its first home matches of the 2014 season beginning Thursday Sept. 25 against Western New Mexico University. Chadron State will take on New Mexico Highlands Friday and CSU-Pueblo Saturday. All three matches begin at 6 p.m.
 
The Eagles (2-9, 1-2 RMAC) are coming off a three-match road stretch that took 21 hours to drive. CSC went 1-2 to open conference play, defeating Western State in three straight-sets. It was the first time the Eagles swept a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opponent on the road since 2010.
 
Lelalelei Nomura, an all-around player, leads Chadron State with a hitting percentage of .195. She has 53 digs, 18 blocks and a team high 111 kills in 11 matches for the Eagles.
 
Four-year starter Erika Roybal has come on strong for the Eagles, hitting .203 in conference play and having 22 of her 92 total kills on the season in three conference matches.
 
The Eagles have been solid up front behind Alia Brennan and Ana Kasljevic. Brennan has a team high 27 blocks and Kasljevic has 16. In the back court, seniors Alyssa Bauer and Brittany Oddo take care of Chadron State's defense, putting up 126 and 106 digs apiece.
 
Western New Mexico (4-6 overall 1-2 RMAC) comes into town with the second lowest average opponent hitting percentage in the conference. The Mustangs have a distributed offense led by setter Kylie Fraga, who has 224 assists on the season. Fraga has distributed over 50 assists to four different Mustangs. Leeta Grap has been Fraga's biggest beneficiary with 92 kills.
 
Friday, interim head coach Chris Wells takes on his former team New Mexico Highlands. Wells was an assistant coach at Highlands before accepting the opening at CSC in late July.
 
Highlands (4-8 overall 0-3 RMAC) has two talented attackers in Alicia Moreno and Andrea Nunez. Moreno leads the team with 111 kills, while Nunez has 94.
 
Chadron finishes out the weekend against CSU-Pueblo. Pueblo (7-5 overall 1-2 RMAC) leads the RMAC in total blocks with 111. Marangiel Perez sits fifth in the conference in kills with 189. On defense, Oni Lattin is second in the conference in blocks, averaging 1.06 blocks per set.
 
The Eagles return to action during homecoming week against Regis Friday, Oct. 3, and Saturday, Oct. 4, against the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.