CHADRON, Neb. – The final two home matches of the year for Chadron State volleyball will feature a senior day celebration and a chance to replicate some of the year's biggest wins. 

The Eagles (4-18, 0-10 RMAC) will face Black Hills State (5-17, 1-9 RMAC) on Friday before the third and final meeting of the season with South Dakota Mines (14-8, 7-3 RMAC) on Saturday, which will also be Senior Day. Both matches will start at 6 p.m. in the Chicoine Center. 

Looking Back
In two nonconference "competition pod" matches, Chadron State volleyball suffered a four-set loss to South Dakota Mines and a three-set loss to CSU Pueblo. 

RECAPS: South Dakota Mines | CSU Pueblo

The Eagles faced those opponents based on a grouping of last year's RMAC standings, as South Dakota Mines, CSU Pueblo and Chadron State were fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, in the RMAC in 2023-24. While the two games last week were nonconference games, the Eagles' final four games of the season will all count in the RMAC standings.

Senior Day
Six Chadron State players will be honored in a pre-match ceremony during Saturday's clash against South Dakota Mines – Paige Boitz, Aiyana Fujiyama, Alondra Hernandez, Kendyl Kirkwood, Sofia Langer and Maddison Wright.

Boitz played in three sets during CSC's season-opening doubleheader on September 6 but has been out since with injury. Hernandez, Fujiyama and Kendyl Kirkwood have all been key contributors, all playing in 75 or more sets and all 22 of CSC's matches. Fujiyama was also an All-RMAC Honorable Mention selection in 2022-23, one of three all-conference selections for the Eagles a season ago. 

Langer (22 sets, 11 matches played) and Wright (28 sets, 14 matches played) have also been contributors for the Eagles throughout the season. Aside from Langer, who transferred this season from Lewis-Clark State, the other five were all members of CSC's 2022-23 team, which became the first Eagle squad in 20 years to qualify for the RMAC Tournament. 

Ward Number One
While some key graduating contributors will be departing the Eagles after the next four games, the future of the program is bright thanks to the play of standouts like freshman Mataya Ward. 

In her debut college season, the outside hitter from Belle Fourche, South Dakota ranks tied for fourth on the team with 114 kills and has received the third-most attack attempts on the roster with 413. 

Ward has played an even bigger role in recent weeks, tallying eight kills or more in each of CSC's last four games. The freshman's 20 kills across last week's matches were the most on the team for the week.

Ward had eight kills during the Eagles' most recent home game against nationally-ranked Colorado Mesa on November 22, then followed it up with 10 against Westminster, a career-high matching 12 against South Dakota Mines and another eight against CSU Pueblo. 

Ward Number Two
While Mataya Ward has emerged as an attacking option for CSC, junior setter and defensive specialist Rylee Ward (no relation) has been performing on the defensive side of the ball.

Ward, a native of La Grange, Wyoming, recorded one double-double and just missed out on another during CSC's competition pod week. Ward recorded 11 assists and 10 digs against South Dakota Mines before recording 10 assists and nine digs in a three-setter against Pueblo.

Rylee Ward has rotated setting duties this season with Kendyl Kirkwood, with Ward putting up 191 total assists and 2.77 assists per set. Ward also has 102 digs on the season, one of five Eagles with triple digits in that category, and also has the third-most aces on the team with 17. 

Although she has limited attacking opportunities as a setter, Rylee Ward is the CSC team leader in hitting percentage, tallying 11 kills with just three attack errors on 30 attempts for a .267 clip.

Hernandez Tracker
Chadron State's Alondra Hernandez continues to lead the RMAC in digs per set and raised her season averages with her performances last week.  

The senior libero recorded 24 digs against South Dakota Mines, her eighth 20-plus dig match of the season, then had 19 in three sets against CSU Pueblo. With 43 digs across seven sets in last week's two matches, Hernandez averaged 6.14 digs per set for the week, a higher pace than her league-leading season total of 4.92 digs per set.

Hernandez leads the conference by a substantial margin over Colorado Christian's Shelby Hernandez (4.81 digs/set) and South Dakota Mines's Hannah Benes (4.79). The CSC libero ranks 44^th in all of Division II.

In the Polls
Chadron State has certainly had a tough schedule up to this point, as the Eagles have faced off against four opponents currently ranked in the nation's Top 15.

In nonconference action, the Eagles battled with No. 5 Nebraska Kearney and No. 15 Point Loma, who is still undefeated at 19-0. In RMAC play, the Eagles have faced No. 4 MSU Denver and No. 14 Colorado Mesa. The Roadrunners have fallen and the Mavericks have risen in the rankings as a result of CMU's four-set "competition pod" win over then-No. 1 MSU Denver last Saturday. 

Against the four nationally ranked opponents, the Eagles are a combined 0-4 with one set win, which came against the MSU Denver. The Eagles are the only RMAC team aside from Colorado Mesa to take a set off MSU Denver this season. 

MSU Denver and Colorado Mesa are the currently the only two nationally ranked teams in the RMAC.

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 Yellow Jackets
Like Chadron, Black Hills State volleyball has had a difficult 2024 season. The Yellow Jackets are 5-17 overall with a 1-9 RMAC record. The overall record includes a four-set "regional pod" loss in Spearfish to Chadron State earlier this season. BHSU's only RMAC victory came in four sets over New Mexico Highlands on October 26. 

The Yellow Jackets have two attackers with 200 or more kills in graduate outside hitter Abigail Renner (218 kills, 2.66 kills/set, .173 hitting percentage) and senior Brooke Miller (200 kills, 3.17 kills/set, .206 hitting percentage). Miller is just outside the RMAC's top 10 in kills per set. Redshirt junior Jaeda Davis-Golliher is BHSU's most efficient attacking option, smashing 131 kills at a .273 clip. 

Defensively, Ellie Thomas ranks fourth in the RMAC in digs per set with 4.62. She has 362 total digs. Randi Wellhoefer leads BHSU with 74 blocks and ranks eighth in the RMAC with 0.95 blocks/set.

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. The Eagles are 17-14 all-time against Black Hills State, having won the last three matchups including earlier this year.

Scouting the Hardrockers
Chadron State is very familiar with South Dakota Mines, as Saturday's match will mark the third time this season and second time in as many weeks that the two teams have faced off.  

The Eagles had a memorable five-set win at home before the Hardrockers prevailed in four sets last weekend. Both of those clashes were nonconference matches – but this one will count in the RMAC standings.

The Hardrockers continue to be led by Italian opposite Alessandra Meoni, who averages 4.05 kills per set to rank second in the conference behind only Colorado Mesa's Sydney Leffler, the reigning RMAC Player of the Year. 

Libero Hannah Benes won the RMAC's Defensive Player of the Week award after a strong week of performances that included a 27-dig game against Chadron State last Friday.

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. 

With the split earlier this year, Chadron State is 26-22 all-time against South Dakota Mines.

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.