CHADRON, Neb. – After a 2-0 week snapped a five-game losing streak, Chadron State volleyball will try to maintain momentum on their home floor when they host UCCS and Regis this weekend at the Chicoine Center. 

The Eagles defeated South Dakota Mines in five sets last Tuesday before going on the road to knock off Black Hills State in four sets on Friday. However, both those wins came in nonconference games, so the Eagles (4-10, 0-4 RMAC) are still searching for their first conference win ahead of two opportunities this weekend.

This weekend, Chadron State hosts UCCS (7-7, 2-2 RMAC) on Friday and Regis (7-7, 3-1 RMAC) on Saturday, with both matches set to begin at 6 p.m. Friday night's match will be Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night, where members of the Eagles volleyball team will honor invited faculty members pregame.

Both matches can be live streamed on the RMAC Network and followed via live stats. 

Looking Back
Chadron State banked two big wins against regional rivals, with a five-set win over South Dakota Mines (21-25, 25-22, 29-31, 25-16, 15-13) and a four-set win over Black Hills State (25-19, 25-19, 21-25, 25-13) in nonconference matchups that were part of the RMAC's new annual "Regional Pods." 

RECAPS: South Dakota Mines | Black Hills State

Chadron State came back from two sets to one down to defeat the Hardrockers, showing impressive resolve after losing a marathon third set that could have been a momentum-killer. Alejandra Briseno (15 kills, 17 digs) and Rylee Ward (13 digs, 24 assists) both recorded double-doubles in the five-set thriller. 

The Eagles were accurate and efficient in the win over Black Hills State, hitting .307 as a team and combining 56 kills with only 10 attack errors. Freshman Mataya Ward had a career-high 10 kills against Black Hills State. 

Attack Accuracy
The Eagles had by far their best offensive week of the season in their two most recent wins. By hitting .307 against BHSU and .208 against South Dakota Mines, Chadron State put up its best and third-best team hitting performances of the season. 

The Eagles racked up a season-high 62 kills against the Hardrockers, which is understandable given that last Tuesday is CSC's only five-setter of the year so far. Friday's game against the Yellow Jackets saw CSC put up 56 kills in four sets, a season-high 14 kills/set. The Eagles combined that with just 10 attack errors, their second-fewest in any match this season and by far their fewest per set at 2.5. 

Against Black Hills State, Chadron State had an incredible five players that had both seven or more kills and two or fewer errors – Kally Kirkwood (12 kills, no errors), Alejandra Briseno (eight kills, two errors), Bella Adams (seven kills, no errors), Natali Keni (seven kills, one error) and Aiyana Fujiyama (seven kills, two errors). Four Eagles hit above .350 in the match (Rylee Ward at .667, Keni at .462, Kally Kirkwood at .444 and Adams at .368). 

Kally Kirkwood personified Chadron State's offensive surge, as the sophomore racked up 24 kills against just one attack error while hitting .411 for the weekend in CSC's two wins. Kirkwood had 12 kills and one error on 29 attempts to hit .379 for the match against South Dakota Mines before her errorless 12 kills on 27 attempts against Black Hills State. Kirkwood also added nine blocks and 12 digs over the weekend.

Block Party
It wasn't just the offense that was firing on all cylinders last week. Chadron State's defense came to play, too, racking up 16 total blocks against South Dakota Mines. That total doubled CSC's previous season high of eight against Missouri Southern, which the Eagles also matched during Friday's win over Black Hills. 

Aiyana Fujiyama was in the middle of Chadron State's block party, accumulating 10 blocks in the five-set win, including one solo block, which is tied for the highest single-game total by an RMAC player in a five-setter this year. Natali Keni (six) and Bella Adams (five) also had blocking season highs against the Hardrockers. 

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.  

Hernandez accumulated 21 digs against South Dakota Mines and 19 against Black Hills State, giving her 240 digs this season in 48 sets played. That average of 5.00 digs/set leads the RMAC and ranks 33^rdnationally in Division II. 

Hernandez has five games of 20 or more digs this season, with outputs of 21 against Cal State San Marcos, 32 against Mary, 22 against Missouri Southern and 20 against Fort Lewis before last Friday. Hernandez's 32 digs against Mary are the most a single game by an RMAC player so far this season. 

Between her two seasons at Central Wyoming College, one season at Division I Norfolk State and her time at Chadron State, Hernandez surpassed 2,000 digs for her career last weekend. She is currently at 2,012 across all collegiate stops.

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. 17 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. 16. 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 Mountain Lions
The University of Colorado, Colorado Springs (UCCS) is a .500 team thus far, as the Mountain Lions are 7-7 overall and 2-2 in RMAC play. In the RMAC, UCCS has lost to Regis and South Dakota Mines while defeating Black Hills State and New Mexico Highlands. The Mountain Lions also lost to Regis and CSU Pueblo last weekend in nonconference matches. Chadron State and UCCS have one other common nonconference opponent, the University of Mary, who both CSC and UCCS defeated in four sets. 

Freshman Payton Tompkins, a Dallas, Texas native, leads UCCS with 180 kills, 3.33 per set. Tompkins put up 24 kills in a five-setter against Regis earlier this year. Sophomore middle blocker Avery Ahlers averaging 1.02 kills per set, but leads the team with a .325 hitting percentage, the only UCCS attacker with over 100 attempts hitting over .200. Ahlers has a team-high 41 blocks, including nine solo blocks. Junior Mackenzie Ransom leads the Mountain Lions with 3.86 digs/set, while three other UCCS players average over two digs per set. 

Head Coach Tara Hittle is in her third season with UCCS in 2024. Hittle went a combined 21-31 with a 14-18 RMAC record across her first two seasons in charge. A Colorado Springs native, Hittle took the head coach in her hometown after an assistant coaching career with Division I stops at Pepperdine, Duke and Portland State. She was a two-sport athlete (basketball and volleyball) for the University of Hawaii, winning the WAC Freshman of the Year honors in 2004 and making four NCAA Tournament appearances. 

UCCS leads the all-time series against Chadron State 28-13. The Eagles got a straight-sets win last season (25-19, 25-21, 25-21), which broke what had been a six-game winning streak by UCCS. 

Scouting the Rangers
The Regis Rangers are coming off a banner 2023 that saw them win the RMAC Tournament Championship as the No. 3 seed by defeating Chadron State in the first round and knocking off nationally-ranked Colorado Mesa and MSU Denver in the semifinals and finals. 

This season, Regis got off to a 2-7 start, falling out of the national rankings. Five of those losses came to nationally-ranked opponents, however, and the Rangers have won five in a row heading into this weekend to sit at 7-7 with a 3-1 RMAC record. Regis's only RMAC loss is to South Dakota Mines, but the Rangers have beat Black Hills State, UCCS and New Mexico Highlands, in addition to CSU Pueblo and UCCS in nonconference matches. 

Grad student outside hitter Halle Theis averages 3.4 kills/set and has recorded double-digit kills in five straight matches. Senior Amelia Davis leads the RMAC in total blocks with 69 and blocks/set with 1.38. Defensive specialist Bre Skala ranks fourth in the RMAC with 4.66 digs/set. 

Freshman Reagan Hickey is the two-time defending RMAC Setter of the Week and ranks third in the conference with 10.94 assists per set. Hickey recorded 53 and 42 assists in Regis's two wins last week. Junior Braiziah Dixon won the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week award last week after going off for 18 total blocks in Regis's two wins, including 13 against UCCS. Dixon has 51 blocks this season. 

Head Coach Joel List is in his 19^th season with the Regis volleyball program and eighth as the head coach. As the head coach, List has two RMAC regular season championships and three RMAC Tournament championships, as well as five NCAA Tournament appearances. Regis is 25-0 all-time against Chadron State, including 12-0 in Chadron. 

Coach's Corner
Head Coach Jennifer Stadler will begin her sixth season at the helm of the Chadron State volleyball program in 2024. 

In her first year in charge in 2019, Stadler immediately led the Eagles to a winning record of 14-12. That year, Stadler coached the RMAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year in Ashton Burditt, who is now an assistant coach on her staff.

The Eagles had a banner year in 2023, finishing 15-12 for the program's highest win total since 2003. Chadron also had an 8-6 conference mark in 2023, finishing sixth in the league and qualifying for the RMAC Tournament for the first time in 20 years. 

Prior to CSC, Stadler coached for eight seasons at Sheridan College in Wyoming, racking up three straight 20-win seasons from 2012-2014. She was a player, assistant coach and interim head coach at current RMAC foe Black Hills State, back when the Yellow Jackets competed in the Dakota Athletic Conference. 

Entering the 2024 season, Stadler has a career record of 45-74 at Chadron State.