CHADRON, Neb. – September 24, 2022 – The Chadron State volleyball team swept Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rival, Western Colorado on Saturday night in three sets, (25-21, 25-20, 25-21) to improve their record to 7-8 overall, and 5-1 in the RMAC. The Eagles won their fifth consecutive RMAC match.

The Eagles had one of their best hitting percentages on the season hitting .259 with freshman Bella Adams having another great night hitting .500. Adams also led CSC in total kills with 10, with sophomore Lexi Hurtado credited eight, and sophomore Mayson Fago with seven. CSC had a total of 39 kills.

Defensively CSC recorded 20 blocks, led by sophomore Aiyana Fujiyama and Adams with five block assists each. Amber Harvey recorded four herself to help the Eagles.
Kiera Alfred led the Eagles in digs with 14, with Breshawna Kelly accounting for nine. CSC recorded 47 total digs on the match Saturday night.

Fujiyama now has nearly two blocks per set credited to her over the past two weeks. She sits at No. 2 individually in the conference at 1.14 total blocks per set.

In the first set the Mountaineers jumped out to a 6-1 lead. Attacking errors by the Mountaineers gave the Eagles their first lead of the night at 10-8. The Eagles never let the Mountaineers take the lead again, but WCU tied the game at 12 from a couple kills from Jordyn Todd. CSC went on 3-0 run before WCU tied the game at 15 from a kill from Caroline Parker. With the game tied at 16, a kill from Fago helped propel the Eagles on an 8-2 run to go up 24-18. Western was able to scrape together three more points before a kill from Harvey gave the first set to the Eagles.

The second set opened up with each team trading blows. There were two early lead changes and three ties, before the Eagles went a run of 6-2 which included a pair of serving aces from Kiley West. The Mountaineers fought back to tie the game at 10, from a serving ace of their own from Hailee Martinez. After a timeout, the CSC went on a 10-3 run to go up 20-13. This run included multiple attacking errors from the Mountaineers' offense, and kills from Fago, Adams, Hurtado, and a serving ace from West. WCU went on a set point run to cut the Eagles lead to 24-20, but an attack error from Olive Rolseth gave the Eagles the second set.

The third set started off hot for the Mountaineers going up 3-0 on the Eagles, but a kill from Fujiyama sparked a 5-0 run for CSC. The Eagles then led for 8 of the next 16 points while five were tied and Western led once. CSC first gained a three-point lead at 15-12, before Western came storming back to tie the game at 15 apiece. The Eagles did not allow the Mountaineers to regain the lead. Chadron State ended on a 4-1 run and the match point was a kill from Hurtado.

The Eagles will be on the road next week as they take on New Mexico Highlands on Friday September 30th at 6 p.m. and Adams State on Saturday, October 1st at 3 p.m.