CHADRON, Neb. – After a 1-1 homecoming weekend, the Chadron State volleyball team will put regional bragging rights on the line this weekend with a pair of nonconference matchups against South Dakota Mines and Black Hills State on Friday and Saturday.

The Eagles (4-8, 1-3 RMAC) will be on the road for both matches, facing South Dakota Mines (3-10, 2-2 RMAC) on Friday at 6 p.m. in Rapid City before journeying to Spearfish to face Black Hills State (4-9, 1-3 RMAC) on Saturday at 2 p.m. as part of "RMAC Regional Pod" week.

Both matches will be streamed on the RMAC Network. Fans can buy a single-game pass for $10 to watch each individual contest, or purchase a monthly ($25) or annual ($130) subscription to the network that provides access to all RMAC contests in all sports for the respective time period.

Regional Pod Week
This week's matchups will not count in the conference standings. For the past few years, the RMAC has introduced two new nonconference game weeks during the season to allow teams to play additional games against relevant conference opponents beyond the 14 (one against each RMAC school) that count in league play. 

The first of these pods is the "Regional Pod," in which the 15 RMAC teams are broken up into five groups of three according to regional rivalries. Chadron State is alongside Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines, so the Eagles will have a second match-up with the Yellow Jackets and Hardrockers every year under this system. 

Chadron State performed well during the Regional Pod last season, defeating South Dakota Mines in five sets and Black Hills State in four sets. 

The second of these pod weekends, due this year to take place October 30-November 1, is the "Power Pod" weekend, when the 15 teams are placed in five groups of three according to last season's finish (1st/2^nd/3^rd... 7^th/8^th/9^th, etc.), with the top seed among the three hosting the round robin. 

Due to finishing 13^th in last season's RMAC standings, Chadron State is in a Power Pod with New Mexico Highlands (14^th) and Black Hills State (15^th). The Eagles will host the Yellow Jackets on October 30 and the Cowgirls on November 1, along with a neutral-site game between BHSU and NMHU on Halloween, October 31 (all nonconference matches).

With Black Hills State appearing in both CSC's regional pod (which they do every year) and power pod (based on last season's finish), the Eagles and Yellow Jackets will face each other three times this season, with only one counting in conference play. Chadron State had the same scenario last season against South Dakota Mines.

RMAC Network Update
All RMAC matches will be livestreamed on the RMAC Network. Beginning in 2025-26, the RMAC Network has moved to a pay-per-view subscription system for all regular season and postseason RMAC contests. 

Fans have multiple subscription choices to choose from: $10 for a single game (access for 24 hours) or $25 for a monthly subscription and $130 for an annual subscription (monthly and annual subscribers have access to all games, regardless of school or sport, broadcasted on the RMAC Network). 

Any CSC staff, faculty or students with a csc.edu or eagles.csc.edu email address are eligible for $10 off an annual subscription under the RMAC's EDU Peak Pricing Promotion. With the discount, an RMAC institutional community member can purchase a yearly subscription for $120, which is more than half off a monthly subscription of the same length.

To purchase subscriptions, visit rmacnetwork.com/purchase. Revenue generated by the network will be redistributed to the league's membership to enhance their broadcast systems.

Looking Back
Chadron State lost its RMAC home opener in straight sets to Fort Lewis but rebounded to sweep Western Colorado the following night for CSC's first RMAC win of the season. 

RECAPS: Fort Lewis | Western Colorado

The Eagles faced a team off to a good start in Fort Lewis, which improved to 8-2 with their 25-22, 25-13, 25-22 win over the Eagles on Friday. Gibson Beckler recorded six kills along with a team-high 16 digs and three blocks. 

The Eagles earned conference win number one on Saturday against Western Colorado, defeating the Mountaineers 25-18, 25-19, 25-16. The Eagles hit .375 as a team and made only eight attack errors across the three sets while CSC combined for 50 kills, the team's highest total this season in a three-set match. 

No Mistakes
Chadron State combined power and accuracy in a big way with their attack during the win over WCU. 

CSC combined its most kills per set (16.7) of the 2025 season along with matching the fewest errors per set (2.67) of the year. The Eagles' .375 hitting percentage was just behind CSC's best (.378 against Mary) and well ahead of their third-best (.268 against Augustana). 

Sophomore Mataya Ward and senior Bella Adams were CSC's top offensive performers, combining for 27 kills against just one hitting error. 

Welcome Back
After missing or being severely limited due to injury in the previous three matches, Mataya Ward was back at full strength in a big way last Saturday against Western Colorado. 

The sophomore powered home 16 kills with no errors on 29 attempts, good for a .552 hitting percentage. Ward's performance was the second-most kills in the RMAC without an error this week, trailing Colorado Mesa's Sadie Scoville who had 17 errorless kills against MSU Denver. 

With the big performance, Ward has overtaken Kally Kirkwood for the team lead with 102 kills (Kirkwood has 98), despite missing two matches. Additionally, Ward ranks fourth in the RMAC with 3.4 kills/set. 

All or Nothing
In an interesting quirk, Chadron State has not played a four-set match yet this season. Out of the Eagles' 12 matches, 10 have been sweeps and gone the minimum three sets (with CSC 4-6 in those contests) while the other two have gone the maximum five. 

Chadron State has come up short in both of its five-setters this year despite leading in both. Chadron State won the first two sets against Augustana and took the second and third sets to go up 2-1 on CCU before the Eagles' favored opponents rallied to take the match. 

In both five-set matches, CSC has won each of their two sets by the exact margin of 25-23. Additionally, the five-setter against CCU broke an eight-match streak to begin the season where the team that won the first set of each Eagles match also took the second set, a streak that has continued to hold true in the subsequent three matches.

Starr Sighting
Redshirt junior defensive specialist Naomi Starr has worked her way into the lineup in each of CSC's last four matches. 

After not appearing in Chadron State's first eight contests of the year, Starr has played in 10 of CSC's last 12 sets and has recorded an ace, an assist and five digs during that time. 

It has been a long wait to get floor time for the Colorado Springs native, who played in just two matches and four sets over the first three seasons of her career. Starr will look to continue to be part of the equation to replace the production of graduated libero Alondra Hernandez, with Avery Lacy sliding over to libero for 2025 and Josie Loosvelt, Shelby Harding and Starr all seeing back row minutes. 

Poll Update
Chadron State volleyball is projected for a 13^th-place finish in the RMAC, matching its finish in last season's standings, according to the RMAC Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll. 

MSU Denver, who have won four straight RMAC regular season championships, is the runaway favorite to win the league this season, receiving 13 of a possible 14 first-place votes. Colorado Mesa is second in the poll, earning the final two first-place votes and 11 second-place votes. Colorado Christian, who advanced to the finals of the RMAC Tournament last season, comes in third in the preseason poll, ahead of last season's surprise third-place finishers South Dakota Mines in fourth. 

The rest of the top 10 features CSU Pueblo, Regis, Westminster, UCCS and Adams State and Colorado School of Mines in a tie for ninth. Spots 11-13 are incredibly close, with 11^th-place Fort Lewis receiving 59 points in the poll, 12^th-place Western Colorado receiving 57 and the 13^th-place Eagles receiving 55. The poll is rounded out by New Mexico Highlands and Black Hills State. 

The RMAC has two schools in the AVCA/TARAFLEX Division II national women's volleyball poll. MSU Denver is at No. 8 in the nation while Colorado Mesa is at No. 25. UCCS is receiving votes. Colorado Mesa defeated MSU Denver this past weekend but followed that up with a five-set loss to UCCS.

Scouting the Opponents
South Dakota Mines
After vaulting up to a third-place finish in last season's RMAC standings, the South Dakota Mines Hardrockers struggled against a higher weight class of nonconference scheduling. 

South Dakota Mines started the season 0-8, but that included losses to three nationally ranked programs and longtime powerhouses Nebraska Kearney, Grand Valley State and Washburn. Since flipping to RMAC play, the Hardrockers beat Fort Lewis and Western Colorado before losing to CSU Pueblo and Colorado Christian. South Dakota Mines beat Black Hills State in four sets on Tuesday.

Led by reigning RMAC Coach of the Year Lauren Prochazka, SD Mines has several individual standouts. Attackers Morgan Daugherty and Lexi Glendenning rank fifth and seventh, respectively, in the RMAC in kills per set. Longtime libero Hannah Benes ranks second in the RMAC with 4.44 digs per set and leads the conference with 222 total digs. Setter Hannah Jones has 8.50 assists per set, good for fifth in the league.

Black Hills State
At 4-8 overall and 1-3 in RMAC play, Black Hills State will be making its second trip to the Chicoine Center this season after going 0-4 during the Eagle Classic with losses to Augustana, Saint Martin's, UMary and Northern State. The Yellow Jackets rebounded to beat that same UMary team a week later. In RMAC play, BHSU has gone 1-3 against the same opponents that Chadron State has faced so far – defeating Western Colorado (in four sets compared to CSC, which did it in three) and falling in sweeps to Fort Lewis, CSU Pueblo and Colorado Christian. 

Black Hills State was picked to finish 15^th and last in the league's preseason poll, but with the win over Western Colorado, they have already matched their total RMAC win output from last year, when they went 1-13. The Yellow Jackets have a first-year head coach in Grayson DuBose, a Division I veteran who spent the last three seasons as an assistant at Eastern Washington but was previously the head coach at Utah State University for 14 years, where he was a two-time Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Coach of the Year. 

The Yellow Jackets are led by libero Ellie Thomas, who ranks third in the RMAC with 4.38 digs per set. Their top attacking option is Emily Freeland, who ranks ninth in the league with 3.07 kills per set. Sydnie Tuioti-Mariner, one of two setters that BHSU deploys, is fifth in the RMAC with 0.41 service aces per set.

Coach's Corner
Head Coach Jennifer Stadler will begin her seventh season in charge of the Chadron State volleyball program in 2025, accumulating a 51-94 record in her first six seasons. 

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. 

In her first year at CSC in 2019, Stadler immediately led the Eagles to a winning record of 14-12 and coached the RMAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year in Ashton Burditt. 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.