CHADRON, Neb. -- October 12, 2017 -- Chadron State College volleyball will attempt to extend its winning ways on the road in two matches this weekend in Colorado, as the team travels to Fort Lewis College in Durango on Friday before going to Adams State College, in Alamosa, on Saturday.

The Eagles are winners of two consecutive home matches, having upended Black Hills State and dealt South Dakota Mines a loss, both by 3-1 margins at home. In each match, CSC started by dropping set one, but rallied to win the next three, leaning harder against the opponents in each successive set.

Chadron State has swept Fort Lewis the past two seasons at home, ending a streak of seven losses to the Skyhawks. However, due to multiple conference realignments over the years, this will be the Eagles' first trip to Durango since 2012. CSC only encountered Fort Lewis twice from 2010-2014, because divisional schedules only required teams to face those in their own division annually.

The Skyhawks are 8-8 overall, and like the Eagles are 3-5 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. So far, they have played an RMAC schedule similar to that of CSC, swapping opponents Colorado Mines and Colorado Christian for Regis and Westminster. They split the home weekend with the South Dakota schools, losing to Black Hills and beating South Dakota Mines, both in five sets.

Fort Lewis will be the fourth Chadron State opponent in five matches averaging more than two blocks per set, as the team ranks third in the league with 2.14 stops on average. Sophomore middle Bailey Longacre, a 6-1 Texan, leads her team in that statistical category with nearly a block per set, at 0.95.

Also helping the defense is junior libero Megan Graefe, of Greeley, Colorado, who played across the net from CSC's Dominika Senkerikova in the Florida junior college circuit in 2015. She leads the RMAC at a 5.12 digs per set average, and together with the blockers, holds opponents to a .170 hitting percentage, third best in the league. In addition, Graefe has 229 serve receptions with only nine errors all season.

ASU has a talented trio of seniors leading them to a 7-10 overall mark and a 3-5 conference record, identical to CSC and FLC.

Mallory Grimsrud, a 6-2 middle from Montana City, Montana, has stood out so far on both offense and defense. She is sixth in the conference in both kills per set (3.61) and hitting percentage (.337). Meanwhile, she has accumulated 70 total blocks for a clip of 1.09 per set, ranking her fourth in the league.

Senior libero Gabrielle Timmen is seventh in the RMAC in digs, pacing her just in front of CSC's Emily Bruce with 4.40 digs per set. 

Finally, setter Katelyn Schwartz is a senior from Fort Collins, Colorado, with 10.18 assists on the season, good for the seventh-best number in the conference.

The Grizzlies defeated both South Dakota Mines and BHSU at home, but have since won only one of their last six in league play. 

In the annual meeting between the two teams, Chadron State has not won since 2006, and has only taken three sets from ASU in the last 11 matches.

The CSC volleyball team will feature its last four regular season home matches with some upcoming promotions next week. 

Friday, October 20, will be "Dig Pink" night, and the team will host local Girl Scouts.

The following night, October 21, will be "Alliance Night". A limited number of free football passes will be available in the city of Alliance, and all Alliance residents will receive reduced admission to CSC football, as well as free admission to volleyball with a football ticket.

On Friday, October 27, Chadron State will try to "Pack the Nest" by collecting non-perishable food items in exchange for free admission to the general public. 

Saturday, October 28, will the the Eagles' Senior Night.