CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State has a split week against its two main rivals, playing its first of two Tuesday matches this season on the road before returning home for a Saturday showdown.

The Eagles (4-14, 1-7 RMAC) travel to Spearfish to face Black Hills State (5-13, 1-7 RMAC) Tuesday at 6 p.m. in what will be the third match in five days for both teams. After the midweek road trip, the Eagles kick off a three-match homestand by facing South Dakota Mines (5-13, 3-5 RMAC) in the Chicoine Center at 6 p.m. 

Unlike earlier this season, when Chadron State faced both the Yellow Jackets and Hardrockers as part of the RMAC's "Regional Pod" week, these two upcoming matches with the South Dakota schools will count in the RMAC standings. 

All three institutions are in need of some positive RMAC results, with CSC and BHSU in a three-way tie for 12^th in the standings with Regis at 1-7 and South Dakota Mines mired in 10^th at 3-5 in a year they were picked to finish fourth.

Both matches will be streamed on the RMAC Network and can be accessed with a game pass, monthly subscription or annual subscription. Live statistics are also available online.

Promotional Notes
The South Dakota Mines match will be a partially different game environment inside the Chicoine Center as Saturday will mark Chadron State's second-ever Sensory Friendly Match. 

The Sensory Friendly Match is geared towards providing a welcoming and inclusive environment towards individuals with neurodiversity or other special needs. Parts of the traditional game presentation will be modified to reduce loud noises, unexpected sounds and flashing lights. 

A sensory safe room space reserved for guests with special needs will also be available in the Chicoine Center during Saturday's match. Additionally, complimentary tickets are being made available for families with a child or children with neurodiversity or other special needs.

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.

Fans will technical support issues can contact Hudl, visit the RMAC email the RMAC Network FAQ page, or directly email the RMAC at rmac@rmacsports.org.

Looking Back
Chadron State faced two of the three teams currently tied for the league lead in the RMAC standings, losing in straight sets to both MSU Denver and UCCS.

RECAPS: MSU Denver | UCCS

MSU Denver entered the Chicoine Center motivated and looking to avoid a similar letdown to last season, when Chadron State won the first set and became one of only four RMAC teams to do so against the Roadrunners. This time around, the Eagles never led at any point in the match, with MSU Denver winning 25-15, 25-19, 25-11.

Against UCCS, Chadron State had a set point in the second set, but UCCS answered by winning three in a row to take down the second frame 26-24, then maintained momentum to jump out to a huge lead in the third, eventually winning 25-19, 26-24, 25-22. 

Chadron State's two opponents last weekend have a combined RMAC record of 14-2 and a combined overall record of 31-5.

Four-Pack
Chadron State's offense has mostly funneled through four players this season – Mataya Ward (163 kills), Kally Kirkwood (139 kills), Gibson Beckler (136 kills) and Bella Adams (111 kills). No other Eagle has tallied more than 46 kills.

Each of the four has taken their turn in the spotlight. Ward and Kirkwood led the team throughout the nonconference portion of the schedule, each recording game-high kills in four of CSC's first eight matches. Ward has continued to emerge as the season went on, avoiding the sophomore slump by leading the Eagles in not only kills, but hitting percentage as well (.241). 

Adams has been the most efficient, recording her 111 kills on 328 attempts, over 110 fewer attempts than Beckler, Kirkwood or Ward. Beckler has the top offensive single-game performance this season, putting up 23 digs in a five-set loss to Black Hills State, who the Eagles will rematch with this Thursday.

Kirkwood's 10 kills, accompanied by a season-best .381 hitting percentage, against UCCS last Saturday marked a return to form for the junior, as it was her fourth match with 10 or more kills this season but her first in the past nine matches. 

Midweek Magic?
This week will see CSC's first scheduled Tuesday match of the season, and one of only two overall for the Eagles. Due to the odd number of teams in the RMAC (15), the RMAC typically hosts 1-3 conference matches every Tuesday to allow teams to rotate properly while always playing two matches per week (Mon.-Sun.)

Chadron State had mixed results playing on Tuesday last season in two matches, both at home. The Eagles won a thrilling and emotional five-set match over South Dakota Mines, who would go on to finish third in the league, during last season's RMAC Regional Pod, rallying from two sets to one down despite dropping a heartbreaking third set by the score of 29-31. 

Chadron State also fell in three sets to a nationally ranked Colorado Mesa team at home on a Tuesday last season. The Eagles will host a Tuesday game in the last week of the 2025 regular season, welcoming Regis to the Chicoine Center on November 11.

Libero Limbo
After having the luxury of All-RMAC selection and conference digs per set leader Alondra Hernandez last season, Chadron State entrusted junior Avery Lacy at that position for the first month-and-a-half of 2025. This past week, however, the Eagles had three different players in the opposite-colored jersey.

Josie Loosvelt played libero in both matches, recording seven digs and three assists on Friday before racking up 13 digs and a season-high four assists against UCCS on Saturday. Loosvelt is up to fourth on the team with 132 digs and third on the roster with 19 assists so far on the season. 

Redshirt junior Naomi Starr also wore a libero jersey during Saturday's match against the Mountain Lions. Starr, who has appeared in 16 sets this season after only appearing in four over her previous three seasons, contributed with two digs plus her second service ace of the season. 

After recording 32 digs against Black Hills State, the most in a single match by anyone in the RMAC this season, Lacy has recorded only seven digs combined in CSC's past four matches while playing intermittently. Despite the slump, the junior still ranks 13^th in the RMAC with 3.51 digs per set and 12^th with 207 total digs.

Chadron State's opponents are settled at the libero position. On Tuesday, the Eagles will see Ellie Thomas, who leads the RMAC with 4.77 digs per set, before facing Hannah Benes Saturday, who is second in the RMAC with 4.64 digs per set.

Stat Standouts

• Mataya Ward ranks seventh in the RMAC with 3.26 kills/set and 3.57 points/set
• Jillian Donovan ranks fourth in the RMAC with 9.00 assists/set, and second with 540 total assists. 
• Shelby Harding ranks fifth in the RMAC with 25 total aces and 0.42 aces/set. 
• As a team, Chadron State ranks 12^th in kills (11.61/set), 11^th in hitting percentage (.186), 12^th in blocks (1.51/set), and sixth in digs (15.70/set). 

Big Numbers
Chadron State has authored some of the top team and individual single-match performances in the RMAC this season.

The Eagles have the fifth and sixth best single-match team hitting percentages of the season in the conference after hitting .378 in a September 6 win over Mary and .375 in a three-set win over Western Colorado. 

In a five-set win over Black Hills State, the Eagles totaled 97 digs, which are the fourth-most in any match and the third-most in a five-set match by an RMAC team during the 2025 season. 

Individually, Avery Lacy tallied 32 digs against the Yellow Jackets, which is tied for the most any RMAC player has had in a single match so far during the 2025 season with Westminster's Kristina House, who did it October 18 against Colorado Christian. Lacy's previous season high and career high was 20 digs, set against Upper Iowa in a three-set win on September 12 of this season.

Gibson Beckler's 23 kills against BHSU were the most by a Chadron State player in a match this season and tied for the fifth-most by an RMAC player in a match this season. Mataya Ward's 17 kills from a September 12 win over Upper Iowa are the second-most by an RMAC player this year during a three-set match.

Jillian Donovan's 56 assists during the five-set win over Black Hills State are also the third-highest single-game total in the conference while her 43 sets from the Western Colorado match are six more assists than any other setter has tallied in a three-set match. Donovan has four of the top seven marks in three-set matches this season.

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 just one school ranked in the AVCA/TARAFLEX Division II national women's volleyball poll – MSU Denver at No. 12. Colorado Mesa is receiving votes.

Scouting the Opponents
Black Hills State
Picked to finish 15^th and last in the RMAC in preseason, Black Hills State has already matched their win totals in overall matches (five) and RMAC matches (one) from last season with eight regular season matches to go. Like CSC, the Yellow Jackets will enter 1-7 in RMAC play, and like CSC, Black Hills State's conference win was against Western Colorado.

The Yellow Jackets defeated Chadron State in five sets in the RMAC Regional Pod in the Donald E. Young Center, which will host the two teams again Tuesday. Since then, Black Hills State has lost its last four matches to identical teams and with identical set scores as Chadron State in that time frame, as BHSU was swept by MSU Denver, UCCS and New Mexico Highlands while losing to Adams State in four sets.  

Black Hills State libero Ellie Thomas is leading the RMAC in digs per set with 4.77. Thomas has double-digit digs in every match this year and is coming off a 24-dig performance in three sets against New Mexico Highlands. Thomas had 28 digs last time out against the Eagles.

Offensively, Emily Freeland (185 kills, .197 pct), Randi Wellhoefer (150 kills, .080 pct) and Carsyn Mettler (120 kills, .202 pct) lead the charge in volume while Jaeda Davis-Golliher (98 kills, .299 pct) is the team's most efficient hitter. 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. 

South Dakota Mines
South Dakota Mines is 5-13 overall and 3-5 in the RMAC after finishing fourth and third in the league the past two seasons. The Hardrockers had a tough non-conference schedule, facing three nationally ranked teams (including teams ranked No. 2 and No. 4 in this week's poll) and going 0-8.

Since defeating Chadron State in three sets on October 3, the Hardrockers are 1-3 – sweeping New Mexico Highlands but losing to UCCS, MSU Denver and Adams State, their second loss of the season to the Grizzlies. 

South Dakota Mines has a one-two punch in attack, as Lexi Glendenning (221 kills, .235 pct) and Morgan Daugherty (196 kills, .248 pct) are the only two Hardrockers above 100 kills this season. Glendenning and Daugherty rank fourth and eighth, respectively, in kills per set in the RMAC. South Dakota Mines is the only team in the league with two attackers averaging over three kills per set.

Hannah Benes, who was second to CSC's Alondra Hernandez in digs/set in the RMAC last season, is second to BHSU's Ellie Thomas this year with 4.64 digs per set. Benes leads the league with 306 total digs. Head Coach Lauren Prochazka is the reigning RMAC Coach of the Year.

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.