CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State volleyball will host the first of two midweek games this season before hitting the road on Friday during a week of nonconference action against RMAC opponents. 

The Eagles (2-10, 0-4 RMAC) will host South Dakota Mines (7-5, 3-1 RMAC) in the Chicoine Center Tuesday night at 6 p.m. for the first of three meetings this season between Chadron State and the Hardrockers. The Eagles then will make the trip over to Spearfish to face off against Black Hills State (4-8, 0-4 RMAC). 

Both games will be streamed for free on the RMAC Network. Fans can listen to Tuesday's match on Double Q Country 97.5 and 105.9 with Dave Collins on the call.

Schedule Breakdown
Neither game this week will count in the RMAC standings, but both still count as regional matches for each team's overall NCAA Tournament resume. This will be the first of two weeks this year where RMAC opponents play one another without it being conference games. 

This week is known as a "regional pod," where the RMAC's 15 teams are grouped into five groups of three roughly according to geographic proximity, allowing each team to get more games in without having to travel long distances. 

On Thursday, October 31 and Friday, November 1, each RMAC team will participate in a "competition pod", with five groups of three based on their finish in last season's standings. While these two games also will not count in RMAC play, it allows teams at the top of the 2023 standings to play one another again, boosting their strength of schedule for postseason consideration, and gives teams who struggled last season an opportunity to pick up more wins against fellow rebuilding programs. 

On the competition pod weekend at the end of this month, Chadron State will face off against South Dakota Mines and CSU Pueblo, due to the Hardrockers, Thunderwolves and Eagles finishing fourth, fifth and sixth in the RMAC last year. As the highest finishing team (fourth), South Dakota Mines will host all matches. 

South Dakota Mines landing in both Chadron's regional pod and competitive pod creates a unique scenario where CSC and the Hardrockers will face off three times in the regular season. The RMAC schedule sees Chadron State play all 14 other RMAC programs exactly once, which will count in the RMAC standings. 

Looking Back
Chadron State endured a difficult opening road trip in RMAC play, falling in straight sets to Western Colorado and Fort Lewis.

RECAPS: Western Colorado | Fort Lewis

The Mountaineers turned it on offensively, hitting .308 for the match. Chadron State improved its performance in every set, but WCU defeated the Eagles 25-14, 25-17, 25-23. Against Fort Lewis, two of the three sets went to extra points, but Chadron State was unable to close in a 31-29, 25-21, 26-24 loss to the Skyhawks. 

Killer Kally
Sophomore Kally Kirkwood had an efficient weekend while also setting a season-high in kills against Fort Lewis. 

Kirkwood totaled 18 kills against just three errors during CSC's two road matches. She hit .261 against the Mountaineers (seven kills, one error on 23 attempts) and then hit .409 against the Skyhawks (11 kills, 2 errors on 22 attempts). Kirkwood also recorded two blocks and five digs over the weekend.

The 11 kills and .409 hitting percentage were both season-highs for Kirkwood. The .409 hitting percentage was the second-highest of her career, trailing only an October 2023 match against Adams State when the then-freshman hit .500 with 15 kills. 

Kirkwood currently ranks second on the team with 72 kills while leading the team with 289 attempts. 

Hernandez Tracker
Chadron State libero Alondra Hernandez continues to lead the RMAC in digs per set and has maintained a streak of double-digit digs in every match so far this season.  

After recording 18 digs against WCU and 20 digs against Fort Lewis, Hernandez is averaging 5.13 digs per set, which ranks 24^th nationally in Division II. The Utah native is currently the only RMAC player averaging over five digs per set, with Regis's Bre Skala (4.86) and South Dakota Mines's Hannah Benes (4.71) trailing behind.

Hernandez ranks third in the RMAC in total digs with exactly 200. Her 20-dig output against Fort Lewis was the fourth time she has recorded 20 or more this year, joining outputs of 21 against Cal State San Marcos, 32 against Mary and 22 against Missouri Southern. Hernandez's 32 digs against Mary are the most a single game by an RMAC player so far this season. 

Rally Time
Tuesday night's match could feature some long rallies, as South Dakota Mines leads the conference with 18.07 digs per set while Chadron State is third with 16.59 digs per set. 

Each team also features one of the conference's better liberos, with Chadron State's Alondra Hernandez and SDM's Hannah Benes both ranking in the league's top three individually in digs per set. 

Coaching Connections
There are multiple links between Chadron State and Black Hills State on each school's respective coaching staffs. CSC Head Coach Jennifer Stadler previously played and was an interim head coach for Black Hills State when the Yellow Jackets were still an NAIA school. 

Also, Eagles assistant coach Harley Rhoades and Black Hills State graduate assistant Haedyn Rhoades are brother and sister. Haedyn Rhoades also competed collegiately for the Yellow Jackets, with her playing career concluding after the 2023 season. She was the RMAC Freshman of the Year in 2019.

In the Polls
Chadron State has certainly had a tough schedule up to this point, as the Eagles have faced off against both the No. 2 and No. 3 teams in the country according to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll – MSU Denver and Nebraska-Kearney. 

The Eagles have also faced No. 20 Point Loma. Against the three ranked opponents, the Eagles are a combined 0-3 with one set win. There are two RMAC teams nationally ranked in the AVCA poll – MSU Denver at No. 2 and Colorado Mesa at No. 18. Chadron State is scheduled to host CMU on Tuesday, October 22 at the Chicoine Center. 

In a preseason vote of the league's head coaches, Chadron State was picked to finish eighth out of 15 teams in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, receiving 96 points in the poll. 

MSU Denver led the way with seven first-place votes and 189 points. The Roadrunners have won the last three RMAC regular season titles. Colorado Mesa received six first-place votes and 183 points to narrowly finish second in the preseason poll. Regis was picked third, receiving the final two first place votes. 

The other teams picked ahead of Chadron by the coaches are South Dakota Mines, CSU Pueblo, Colorado School of Mines and Colorado Christian. After the Eagles in eighth, the rest of the poll is rounded out by Fort Lewis, Westminster, UCCS, Adams State, Western Colorado, Black Hills State and New Mexico Highlands. 

Scouting the Hardrockers
South Dakota Mines has backed up a fourth place finish last season with a 7-5 start, including a 3-1 mark in conference play. The Hardrockers opened RMAC play with a statement sweep over then-nationally ranked Regis, the defending RMAC Tournament champions. They have also defeated UCCS and Adams State while losing in four sets to CSU Pueblo. 

Alessandra Meoni, a senior from Italy, is one of the RMAC's premier offensive talents so far this season. She leads South Dakota Mines with 175 kills, 3.89 kills/set and a .313 hitting percentage. Meoni ranks second in the RMAC in kills per set and first in total kills. 

Sophomore Ivy Vindivich won RMAC Freshman of the Year last season and is one week removed from being named the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week after she averaged 13 kills per match and 4.3 kills/set while hitting .400 or better in back-to-back wins over Regis and UCCS on September 20 and 21. For the season, Vindivich is hitting .196 with 2.55 kills/set. 

Junior libero Hannah Benes leads the team and ranks third in the RMAC with 4.71 digs/set while leading the conference with 212 total digs. Benes also leads the conference in total aces with 25, averaging 0.56 aces/set. Junior Kiera Walsh and sophomore Annelise Larson each have over 30 blocks. 

Head Coach Lauren Prochazka joined the Hardrockers ahead of the 2018 season. Under Prochazka, South Dakota Mines has qualified for the RMAC Tournament in three of the last four seasons, the only appearances in program history. The Hardrockers finished 18-10 with 10 RMAC wins last year, both of which were Division II program records. 

Scouting the Yellow Jackets
The Yellow Jackets of Black Hills State University are 4-8 this season. BHSU and Chadron are currently the only two 0-4 teams in the RMAC, although this matchup will not settle the score as it won't count in the conference standings. Black Hills has lost in four sets to UCCS and Regis, three sets to CSU Pueblo and five sets to Adams State. 

Senior Brooke Miller leads BHSU and ranks sixth in the RMAC with 3.46 kills/set. Miller has 142 kills and 3.46 kills/set this season. The Yellow Jackets have relied on Miller heavily, as Miller's 407 attacks also rank sixth in the conference. She is hitting .199 this season. Including Miller, the Yellow Jackets have four players with over 10 aces this year. 

Redshirt junior middle blocker Jaeda Davis-Golliher leads with a .304 hitting percentage. Junior libero Ellie Thomas has 4.50 digs/set to rank fifth in the RMAC. Redshirt junior Randi Wellhoefer has recorded four blocks or more in three of her last four contests. 

Bree Davis has been the head coach of BHSU since prior to the 2021 season. She also served as a graduate assistant coach at Southern Arkansas University from 2019-2021.