CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State volleyball will hit the road for the first time in RMAC play this weekend, still searching for its first conference win of the season. 

The Eagles (2-8, 0-2 RMAC) will face Western Colorado (2-9, 0-2 RMAC) on Friday night at 6 p.m. before heading south to Durango to face Fort Lewis (2-8, 0-2 RMAC) on Saturday night at 7 p.m. 

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

Looking Back
The Eagles played some competitive sets against some of the top teams in the RMAC, even winning a set against the No. 2 team in the nation, but ultimately went 0-2 in their conference season-opening weekend at home. 

RECAPS: Colorado School of Mines | MSU Denver

The Eagles fell in straight sets to Colorado School of Mines, with a pair of nailbiters sandwiched around a more comfortable Oredigger second set win in a 26-24, 25-16, 25-22 Eagles loss.

Against MSU Denver, who have won the past three RMAC regular season titles, Chadron State won the first set 25-23, marking just the second time in the last nine meetings between the schools that the Eagles have won a set against the Roadrunners. MSU Denver won the next three sets, creating a final score of 23-25, 25-21, 25-11, 25-14 in favor of the Roadrunners.

First Set Success
Despite facing two of the conference's most storied powers, Chadron State came out swinging against both opponents last weekend. 

Against the Orediggers, CSC put up 13 kills against three errors in 41 attempts for a .244 hitting percentage and forced the first set into extra points before Colorado School of Mines prevailed 26-24. 

The Eagles were able to seal the deal in the first set against MSU Denver, hitting .292 as a team with 11 kills on 24 attempts while winning the first set 25-23. The .292 percentage was the best of the match for Chadron State, as the Eagles failed to hit above .150 in any of the subsequent three sets. 

Breezy Briseno
Junior outside hitter Alejandra Briseno has emerged as one of the Eagles' primary attack options in 2024. 

Briseno leads the Eagles with 72 kills and 2.25 kills per set this season. She has been consistent as well, finishing at minimum tied for the most kills on the team in five consecutive matches. Briseno has recorded three games with double-digit kills – nobody else on the Eagles roster has more than one. 

The junior is a new addition to Chadron State's roster. Briseno was originally born in Jalisco, Mexico, but played the first two years of her collegiate career at Hutchison Community College in Kansas. Briseno averaged 2.09 kills per set during her Blue Dragons career with a career-high of 16 kills, which she has already eclipsed in an Eagle uniform by tallying 18 against Mary. 

When Briseno has gone off, the Eagles typically do well. Her 18 kills against Mary and 15 kills against Missouri Southern are the two highest single-game performances on the team so far, and they coincide with Chadron State's two wins so far this season. 

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 recorded 11 digs against Colorado School of Mines and 14 against MSU Denver, giving her 162 across CSC's 10 matches and 33 sets. That works out to an average of 4.91 digs per set, which leads the RMAC and ranks 34^th in Division II. 

She leads South Dakota Mines's Hannah Benes (4.81) by a tenth of a dig per set, with Regis's Bre Skala (4.79) and CCU's Shelby Hernandez (4.78) just behind. Hernandez ranks fifth in the RMAC in total digs. 

Hernandez has recorded 20 or more digs on three occasions, with a season and career high of 32 September 13 in a win over Mary. 

As a team, Chadron State ranks fifth in the RMAC with 16.45 digs per set. 

She Doesn't Miss
Bella Adams, CSC's only Second Team All-RMAC selection from last year, has been the Eagles' most efficient hitter so far this season. With 50 kills and only 13 errors in 146 attempts, Adams boasts a hitting percentage of .253, which leads Chadron State among attackers with more than 15 attempts. 

Adams has been errorless in four individual matches this season, including a streak of three straight matches between Missouri Southern, Nebraska Kearney and last Friday's match against Colorado School of Mines. Across those three matches, Adams had 34 attack attempts and 13 kills without an attack error. 

The junior's season high of nine kills against Cal State San Marcos also came in an errorless match. Adams had 20 attempts throughout the contest and hit .450 against the Cougars. 

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 Mountaineers
Western Colorado enters the weekend with a 2-9 record. The Mountaineers opened RMAC play with a three-set loss to No. 18 Colorado Mesa and a four-set loss to Westminster, both on the road. They were picked to finish 13^th in the conference in the preseason coaches poll.

The Mountaineers' wins came at home during the Mountaineer Volleyball Classic, as WCU defeated Western New Mexico in five sets and Academy of Art in four sets. Western Colorado also lost in straight sets to Washburn and in four to Texas A&M Kingsville that weekend. 

Senior middle Seyun Park, who was born in South Korea, is WCU's leading attacker with 103 kills, 2.64 kills/set and a .256 hitting percentage. Park went off for 21 and 17 kills in each of Western Colorado's two wins but was held to seven and eight kills in last weekend's two RMAC matches. 

Defensively, sophomore Chinaru Inoue, a native of Japan, has 208 digs while no other Mountaineer has more than 85. Senior setter Nur Turkmenoglu ranks fifth in the RMAC with nine assists per set. Western Colorado ranks 11^th in the RMAC as a team in hitting percentage and 13^th in opposing hitting percentage.

Head Coach Jordan Bruere is in her second season at Western Colorado. The Mountaineers went 5-21 in Bruere's first year. Prior to the Mountaineers, Bruere spent three years as the head coach at Dodge City (Kansas) Community College, turning around a program from four wins the year before she took over to 22 wins the year she left. She was an assistant coach at Otero Junior College and Division I Louisiana-Monroe and played in the RMAC as a student-athlete at CSU Pueblo.

Scouting the Skyhawks
Fort Lewis is 2-8 this season. The Skyhawks lost to both Westminster and No. 18 Colorado Mesa in straight sets on the road to open up RMAC play last weekend. Fort Lewis was picked ninth in the preseason coaches poll, one spot behind Chadron State. 

The Skyhawks competed alongside Western Colorado at the Mountaineer Volleyball Classic in Gunnison, losing to Texas A&M Kingsville, Washburn and Western New Mexico but beating Academy of Art in straight sets. FLC's other win came over Texas-Permian Basin in five sets. They've lost to four nationally-ranked opponents in this week's poll – Colorado Mesa, No. 13 Central Oklahoma, No. 14 Angelo State and No. 24 Washburn. 

Sophomore Alina Nunez leads the team overall with 81 kills but was held to only a combined four kills against Westminster and Colorado Mesa. Senior Alexis Hobie and grad student Lauren Shea both have a higher kills per set mark than Nunez but have missed one match apiece. 

Freshman Emery Pomroy has racked up 100 digs in her debut season for the Skyhawks. Junior middle blocker Ivy Schoditsch has 23 blocks to lead the Skyhawks. Setter Natalia Lambos is seventh in the RMAC with 8.15 assists per set. 

Head Coach Giedre Tarnauskaite is in her fifth season leading the Skyhawks program. The Skyhawks have improved their win total in all four seasons of Tarnauskaite's tenure, going from four wins in 2020 up to six, 10 and 13 over the next three seasons. Tarnauskaite spent time as an assistant coach with Seattle University and the University of Montana. 

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.