CHADRON, Neb. -- October 12, 2021 -- The Chadron State College volleyball team (4-11, 2-6 RMAC) will be in Colorado this weekend to take on Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foes #2 MSU Denver (14-2, 8-0 RMAC) and Colorado Christian (7-9, 4-4 RMAC). Friday's match in Denver is at 7 p.m. and Saturday's match in Lakewood is set for 5 p.m.
The MSU Denver Roadrunners are sitting at the #2 spot in the AVCA Women's Division II Coaches Top 25 poll after coming off a dominant weekend in South Dakota, where they dismantled South Dakota Mines (8-8, 2-6 RMAC) and Black Hills State (5-11, 2-6 RMAC) 3-0 each.
In the long history between the two teams, the Eagles have won only 4 matches against the Roadrunners. The last win was in 2004 when CSC battled for five sets to win 3-2.
MSU Denver's kill leaders are outside hitters Rylee Hladky and Avaline Lai. With 215 kills, Hladky currently leads the RMAC in points (258.5), points per set (4.24), kills per set (3.52), service aces (28), and service aces per set (.46). Lai currently holds the fourth best hitting percentage in the RMAC at .348 (minimum 3.0 total attempts per set).
Rylee Hladky is the niece of Bubba and Toni Hladky, who each played basketball for Chadron State. Toni was the CSC Female Scholar Athlete of the 1997-98 school year.
The Roadrunners' assist leaders are Amela Qershia and Jessa Megenhardt. With 376 and 329 respectively, both rank among the RMAC's best setters.
The Roadrunners are coached by sixth-year head coach Jenny Glenn. She is assisted by Amy Watanabe and Matt Deming.
The Colorado Christian Cougars are coming off a 0-3 road loss to Black Hills State and a 3-0 road win over South Dakota Mines last weekend.
The Eagles' record against the Cougars currently stands at 23-25. Their last victory was a 3-2 home win in 2015, where each team traded blows until the Eagles pulled away with a 15-6 set five win.
The Cougars' offense features three athletes that the Eagles will have to prepare for. They are outside hitter Breanna Allen, outside hitter Libby Goodman, and setter Izzy Jones.
Allen and Goodman currently lead the team in kills with 170 and 151 respectively, with the next nearest kill leader sitting at 71. Allen also leads the team in points (190.5) and points per set (3.74).
Jones has taken sole setting responsibilities for the Cougars this season. So far, she has produced 551 assists, which is the fourth most in the league.
Colorado Christian's defensive leaders include libero Madelyn Long and middle hitter Mackenzie Close. Long leads the team in digs with 237 and Close leads with team in block assists (42) and total blocks (44).
The Cougars are coached by fifth-year head coach Bobby Blanken. Joining him is associate head coach Jason Rhine and assistant coaches Calah Carbajal and Amanda Snyder.
