CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State volleyball won the first set before Colorado School of Mines responded, with the Orediggers handing the Eagles a Senior Night loss Friday in the Chicoine Center in the final match of CSC's 2025 season – 20-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-14.
Freshman Shelby Harding finished with 13 kills to lead the Eagles and added 12 additional digs. Chloe Grady and Bella Adams – one of six seniors honored postmatch – finished with seven kills apiece.
Grady had a standout game on the defensive end. The junior from Hawaii had two solo blocks and combined with teammates on eight others to become only the third RMAC player this season with 10 or more blocks in a single match and set the 2025 record for most blocks by a league player in a four-set match.
Five Eagles had double-digit digs, with libero Avery Lacy leading the way with 22 for her second-best career high in a single match. Cydnie Eskew had 16 digs, Jillian Donovan had 13, Harding had 12 and Josie Loosvelt finished with 10.
The result concludes CSC's 2025 season at 5-21 with a 1-13 record in the RMAC. Colorado School of Mines, who entered the weekend as part of a group of teams separated by only two games for third through ninth place in the league standings, improved to 19-6 overall and 9-4 in the RMAC.
Chadron State honored six seniors – Alejandra Briseno, Natali Keni, Shelbi Hazlitt, Bella Adams, Rylee Ward and Bo French – who all played their final match as Eagles. All except an injured Ward appeared in the third set of Saturday's match, with French appearing in her first match this season.
The Eagles came out motivated for their final match of the season, taking control of the first set with a 5-0 run that featured two Adams kills and a Loosvelt ace to put CSC up 14-8. When Mines cut the lead to 21-20, the Eagles responded by winning four points in a row. Grady played a central role, putting away a kill to start the run then combining with first Harding, then Kally Kirkwood on back-to-back blocks to close out the set.
Grady's ball magnet skills extended to the second frame as the junior came up with a solo block and a combo block with Harding to give the Eagles an early 5-1 lead, but the Orediggers rallied at a crucial moment, winning the next six points to take a 7-5 lead, which they maintained the rest of the second set.
In the pivotal third set, Mines had a narrow lead midway through and attempted to pull away, but couldn't shake the Eagles. The Orediggers led 11-8, 18-13 and 23-20 only for the Eagles to pull within one twice and then tie it at 23-23. Again, Grady had her fingerprints all over CSC's 3-0 run, coming up with a kill to make it 23-21 and then combining with Mataya Ward first and Kirkwood second for blocks to tie the score.
Just as quickly as Chadron State rallied, however, Mines recovered. A CSC service error gave set point to the Orediggers, and Mines followed with an ace to go up two sets to one in the blink of an eye. That finish seemed to take the wind out of CSC's sails, as the Orediggers built a 10-1 fourth-set lead and the Eagles turned their focus to getting the team's seniors onto the court.
Mines hit .196 for the match but were under .175 in three straight sets before hitting .368 in the fourth. Chadron State hit .244 in their victorious first set but struggled afterwards and only hit .117 across all four sets.
