CHADRON, Neb. – After a winless season-opening trip to California, Chadron State volleyball will head east within the state of Nebraska for four more nonconference games this weekend at the Rosella Meier Fall Classic, hosted by Nebraska Kearney.   

The Eagles will kick off the classic by facing Oklahoma Christian at 9 a.m. this Friday, followed by a 3 p.m. match against the University of Mary. On Saturday, CSC will battle Missouri Southern at 1 p.m. before a 5 p.m. showdown with the host Lopers (all times MT, local time is CT). 

All matches will take place at the UNK Health & Sports Center in Kearney. Matches can be streamed via pay-per-view on the MIAA Network. Fans can also follow the game via live stats for all matches.  

This weekend's four matches are the final scheduled games against non-RMAC opponents for Chadron State for the rest of the regular season. 

Looking Back
Chadron State struggled out west against top competition, going 0-4 in the San Diego Invite but facing four teams that were all picked in the top half of their respective conference preseason polls.

RECAPS: Friday (vs. PLNU) | Saturday (vs. Vanguard, SFU) | Sunday (vs. CSUSM)

Chadron State's final game of the four was its best, as the Eagles set team-highs with kills (41), hitting percentage (.179), aces (seven) and digs (59) against Cal State San Marcos. 

Sister Sister
Senior setter Kendyl Kirkwood and sophomore middle hitter Kally Kirkwood, siblings out of Fleming, Colorado, both had strong opening weekends of the 2024 season. 

Kally Kirkwood leads the team with 22 kills through the season's first four matches. Kirkwood had a team-high five kills against Point Loma and a team-high six kills against Simon Fraser before a season-high eight kills against San Marcos. 

Kendyl Kirkwood leads the team with 63 assists as CSC's primary setter, but also ranks second on the team in aces (three) and digs (29). All three of her aces came in the match against Cal State San Marcos. 

You're In
Head Coach Jennifer Stadler deployed a variety of lineups throughout the opening weekend. Of the 21 players listed on the team's roster, 15 played at some point during the California trip, and everybody who made an appearance played in three sets or more. 

The group of participants included both freshmen on the roster – Belle Fourche, South Dakota's Mataya Ward and Bayard, Nebraska's Danika Hassel – as well as new transfer additions in outside hitter Alejandra Briseno and setter Sofia Langer. 

Ward, an outside hitter, played in 12 of a possible 13 sets during the first weekend of her college career and found herself in the starting lineup for all four matches. Ward's 16 kills rank third on the Chadron State roster, headlined by an eight-kill day against Cal State San Marcos. Hassel played in eight sets while making two starts as a freshman. She had a strong college debut, with three kills on eight attempts against Point Loma. 

Briseño, a former Hutchison CC outside hitter, played in 12 sets, racking up nine kills and 17 digs. Briseno's .233 hitting percentage ranks second on the team behind Bella Adams's mark of .241. Langer has played in all four matches spelling Kendyl Kirkwood at setter. Her 17 assists rank second on the team. 

Just five players have appeared in every set so far this season for the Eagles – the Kirkwood sisters, junior middle Bella Adams, sophomore outside Avery Lacy and senior libero Alondra Hernandez. Adams ranks second on the team in kills (20) and blocks (six), Lacy leads the team in aces (four) and ranks third in digs (24) while Hernandez leads the team in digs with 55. 

In the Polls
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. 

Currently, there are three RMAC teams ranked in the nation's top 25 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll – MSU Denver at No. 3 overall, Colorado Mesa at No. 15 and Regis at No. 24. 

Scouting Report
The Eagles will continue to face solid competition, as CSC will face two undefeated teams and a nationally ranked top 10 opponent among its four foes this weekend. 

Oklahoma Christian is one of those undefeated teams, going 4-0 in a season-opening tournament in Pittsburg, Kansas. They defeated RMAC school Western Colorado in five sets before sweeping Pittsburg State, sweeping Southwest Baptist and topping Arkansas Tech in five. 

Also known as the Eagles, Oklahoma Christian is off to a strong start under first-year head coach Asa Freeman, who served as the interim coach for the second half of last season. Oklahoma Christian was picked 11^th in the Lone Star Conference preseason poll. True freshman outside hitter Chloe Jones picked up the LSC's Freshman of the Week award on Monday after totaling 57 kills and 45 digs in four matches. 

The University of Mary Marauders are 1-3, defeating Cameron University in four sets but falling in four sets to Arkansas-Fort Smith, in five sets to Fort Hays State and in four sets to RMAC school UCCS. Mary was picked 12^th in the Northern Sun preseason poll after finishing 9-19 overall and 4-14 in conference play last season. 

After the opening weekend, junior Gabby Caskey is hitting .404 with 3.06 kills per set while junior setter Maddy Freed has 168 assists (9.88 per set), 10 blocks and 29 digs. 

The Missouri Southern Lions, like Chadron, are looking for their first win of the season after going 0-4 last weekend. The Lions lost to Minnesota-Duluth and RMAC school Westminster in four sets, went the full five before losing to Southern Nazarene and most recently were swept by Texas A&M-Kingsville. Missouri Southern was picked eighth out of 12 teams in the MIAA preseason poll. 

Senior outside hitter Alana Moesch leads the team with 3.25 kills per set. She had a 25-kill performance in the five-setter against Southern Nazarene. Junior libero Kyla Randall is averaging 4.94 digs per set, including 30 digs in four sets against Westminster. 

Nebraska Kearney will enter the weekend as the No. 6-ranked team in the country in the AVCA poll. The Lopers are 5-0 and have yet to drop a set. They swept four California teams over the weekend (UC Merced, Westmont, Menlo and Cal State Monterrey Bay) and then swept Peru State at home on Tuesday. 

Those performances helped UNK rise three spots from No. 9 to No. 6 in the poll. The Lopers have two players averaging over three kills per set in sophomores Carly Purdy (3.88) and Mia Berg (3.45). Berg is hitting .540 this season. 

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.