CHADRON, Neb. – After opening the conference season on the road last week, Chadron State volleyball will play in the Chicoine Center for the first time in a non-classic setting as part of homecoming week.

The Eagles (3-7, 0-2 RMAC) will take on Fort Lewis (7-2, 1-1 RMAC) on Friday night at 6 p.m. before facing Western Colorado (1-9, 0-2 RMAC) on Saturday night at 6 p.m.

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.

In addition, Eagle fans can catch Friday's match against Fort Lewis live on the radio on Double Q Country/KQSK 97.5 FM, with Dave Collins on the call.

Looking Back
Chadron State dropped its first two RMAC matches but took fans for quite the ride in their conference opener, pushing reigning RMAC tournament finalists Colorado Christian to the absolute limit before running out of gas against CSU Pueblo. 

RECAPS: Colorado Christian | CSU Pueblo

The Eagles' match against Colorado Christian went the maximum five sets, with three sets decided by the minimum two points, in CCU's eventual 25-15, 23-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-12 win over Chadron State. Three CSC attackers had double digit kills while five Eagles had double-digit digs, led by an 11-kill, 15-dig performance by freshman Shelby Harding and a 12-kill, 13-dig performance by transfer Gibson Beckler. 

Perhaps feeling the effects of the marathon five-setter coupled with the 21-hour turnaround between start times, the Eagles could not keep up with CSU Pueblo, who hit .481 for the match while dispatching CSC 25-11, 25-12, 25-19.

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.

Coming Home
While this week is the conference home opener for CSC volleyball, it's also a part of campus-wide homecoming festivities. The student body-voted homecoming court will make an appearance in the court during Friday's game while Saturday will be alumni night with several former Eagle volleyball standouts recognized before and during the game.

All or Nothing
In an interesting quirk, Chadron State has not played a four-set match yet this season. Out of the Eagles' 10 matches, eight have been sweeps and gone the minimum three sets (with CSC 3-5 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. 

Stat Standouts
True freshman Jillian Donovan has instantly emerged as potentially one of the top setters in the RMAC. The Lincoln, Nebraska native ranks third in the RMAC with 9.09 assists per set and fourth in the league with 309 total assists. 

In 10 matches this season, Donovan has topped 20 assists nine times and topped 30 assists six times despite the Eagles only playing four sets over the minimum so far this year.

Mataya Ward has been CSC's top offensive option this season. Although the sophomore from Belle Fourche, South Dakota missed CSC's two matches this past week, Ward ranks fifth in the RMAC in both kills per set (3.32, 83 in 25 sets played) and points per set (3.76, 94 in 25 sets played).

Other Eagles in the top 10 of the RMAC standings include Shelby Harding (8^th in aces per set, 0.42) and Avery Lacy (9^th in digs per set, 3.74). 

Chicoine Cagefights
Although the Eagles' win-loss record at home in 2024 (2-6) was in line with their away (2-9) and neutral (2-6) marks, Chadron State was far more competitive at home, particularly in winning sets and extending matches. 

Out of Chadron State's eight home matches last season, four of them went the full five-sets, with CSC finishing 2-2 in those home five-setters. The Eagles also extended the match to four sets against Regis and then-No. 2 ranked MSU Denver on the Chicoine Center floor last year.

CSC played 34 sets across their eight home matches last season, a 4.25 sets/match average, well outpacing their averages on the road (3.36 sets/match) and in neutral-site matches (3.29 sets/match).

Well Rounded
Missouri State-West Plains transfer Gibson Beckler has played a big role for the Eagles in her debut season in Chadron. 

Entering the weekend, Beckler is the only CSC player who ranks within the team's top five in kills (third, 69), digs (second, 98), assists (third, 13), blocks (fifth, 8) and aces (t-second, 7). 

The junior has two games with a .300 hitting percentage or better, four games with double-digit digs, and two double-doubles, including last Friday against Colorado Christian.

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. 5 in the nation while Colorado Mesa is tied for No. 24. 

Two other RMAC programs – UCCS and Colorado School of Mines – are receiving votes. Previous CSC opponent Northern State, who defeated the Eagles twice in nonconference play in 2025, is ranked No. 18.

Scouting the Opponents
Fort Lewis
The Fort Lewis Skyhawks are 7-2 with a 1-1 RMAC record. The Skyhawks performed well in their nonconference classics, going 3-1 on opening weekend and closing nonconference play with a gritty 3-0 weekend over Eastern New Mexico, Lubbock Christian and Southwestern Oklahoma State, with the first two of those matches going five sets. 

Fort Lewis opened conference play with a sweep of Black Hills State, then fell in five sets to South Dakota Mines after the Skyhawks led in the match, two sets to one. 

The Skyhawks have a three-headed monster in attack, with Cambria Freymuth (93 kills), Jordan DeJesus (85) and Ella Butler (84). Butler ranks second in the RMAC with a .363 hitting percentage on 171 attempts. Sophomore Emery Pomroy has an RMAC-leading 174 digs, good for 5.12 per set, while Butler has 16 blocks.

Western Colorado
Western Colorado is 1-9 so far in 2025, with their lone win coming against Millersville University (DII, PSAC). In the first week of conference play, the Mountaineers suffered a sweep at the hands of South Dakota Mines and lost in four sets to Black Hills State. 

The team from Gunnison has a new head coach after former coach Jordan Bruere departed for RMAC rivals CSU Pueblo. New leader Sonia Morales-Jones comes to WCU after nine seasons at Benedictine University Mesa (Arizona), where she compiled a 166-88 record and qualified for the NAIA national tournament in 2020, 2022 and 2023. 

Senior Olive Rolseth (95 kills) and junior Liv Marshall (94) lead the offensive attack for WCU, which enters 14^th in the RMAC in points and hitting percentage (Chadron State is 12^th and 11^th, respectively). Galatia Andrew has 102 digs to lead the Mountaineers defensively, ranking 15^th in the RMAC, while junior Kyra Kidd has 21 blocks.

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.