CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State will be tournament central on the first weekend of volleyball season, with six teams descending on the Chicoine Center for the 2025 edition of the Eagle Classic this Thursday-Saturday, September 4-6.

The host Eagles will participate in four of the 12 matches scheduled to be contested over the three-day classic. Chadron State will open its season against Saint Martin's (Wash.) on Thursday at 7 p.m. 

The next day on Friday, the Eagles will match up against two teams from South Dakota, meeting the Augustana Vikings at 1 p.m. and the No. 25-ranked Northern State Wolves at 7 p.m. The Eagles will play their fourth and final match on Saturday at 1 p.m. against the Mary Marauders. 

Aside from the Eagles' four opponents, Black Hills State will also attend the classic. Chadron State and Black Hills State will not face one another this weekend but are scheduled to battle three times throughout the 2025 season. 

RMAC Network Update
All 12 Eagle Classic 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.

Programming Notes
In addition to the pay-per-view live streams available, Thursday's season opener against Saint Martin's will be broadcast live on KQSK 97.5 FM and doubleqcountry.com, with Dave Collins on the call. 
Live statistics for all Eagle classic matches will also be available for free.  
 
Classic Schedule
The 2025 Eagle Classic will feature 12 matches total – two on Thursday, six on Friday and four on Saturday. Each of the six participating teams will play four matches each. 

Official 2025 Eagle Classic Microsite (Tournament Information)

The action begins at 5 p.m. on Thursday night, with first serve on Friday and Saturday coming at 9 a.m. 
 

DATE	TIME	MATCHUP
Thurs., 9/4	5 p.m.	Black Hills State vs. Augustana
Thurs., 9/4	7 p.m.	Chadron State vs. Saint Martin's
Fri., 9/5	9 a.m.	#25 Northern State vs. UMary
Fri., 9/5	11 a.m.	Black Hills State vs. Saint Martin's
Fri., 9/5	1 p.m.	Chadron State vs. Augustana
Fri., 9/5	3 p.m.	UMary vs. Black Hills State
Fri., 9/5	5 p.m.	Augustana vs. Saint Martin's
Fri., 9/5	7 p.m.	Chadron State vs. #25 Northern State
Sat., 9/6	9 a.m.	UMary vs. Saint Martin's
Sat., 9/6	11 a.m.	Augustana vs. #25 Northern State
Sat., 9/6	1 p.m.	Chadron State vs. UMary
Sat., 9/6	3 p.m.	Black Hills State vs. #25 Northern State

 
2024 Season Recap
After a landmark 2023 that saw the CSC volleyball program make the RMAC Tournament for the first time in 20 seasons, Chadron State took a step back in 2024, finishing with a 6-20 record and going 2-12 in RMAC play. 

The Eagles were competitive against some of the league's best, earning a nonconference victory over South Dakota Mines, who finished third in the RMAC standings, and pushing the Hardrockers to five sets in another tilt.

Chadron State also won a set at home against then-No. 2 ranked MSU Denver, which went an impressive 42-5 in sets during conference play while sweeping through the RMAC regular season undefeated.

After four nonconference wins (two against RMAC opponents), both of CSC's conference victories came in the last two weeks of the season when the Eagles defeated Black Hills State at home and topped New Mexico Highlands on the road in the season finale.

Senior libero Alondra Hernandez was an anchor on the defensive end, leading the RMAC with 4.93 digs per set in the regular season and earning an RMAC Defensive Player of the Week award, the program's first offensive, defensive or setter POTW since the 2019 season. 

Hernandez and senior middle blocker Aiyana Fujiyama both earned Honorable Mention All-RMAC honors, and senior setter Kendyl Kirkwood earned a selection to the 14-player RMAC All-Academic First Team. Hernandez, Fujiyama and Kendyl Kirkwood all graduated and exhausted their college eligibility after the 2024 season.

The Roster
The Eagles return each of their top three kill leaders from a season ago in junior Kally Kirkwood (191 kills), senior Alejandra Briseno (181) and sophomore Mataya Ward (156). 

Ward was a pleasant surprise as a true freshman out of Belle Fourche, South Dakota and should be in line for a bigger role after recording double-digit kills in four of CSC's final seven matches in 2024. 

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Former All-RMAC selection and senior Bella Adams will provide leadership and returns after posting 135 kills and 61 blocks in 2024. Junior Avery Lacy, who ranked second on the team behind league leader Hernandez in digs last season with 221, is poised to take over the libero role.

The setter role could be filled in by senior Rylee Ward, who was second on the team in sets with 205 and had 109 digs to go with 18 service aces last season, or three-time Nebraska state champion and true freshman Jillian Donovan, a Lincoln native.

Transfer additions Shelbi Hazlitt (Nebraska-Kearney, Coe College), and Chloe Grady (Western Nebraska CC) should bolster the Eagles' middle unit after the departure of Fujiyama while Gibson Beckler (Missouri State-West Plains) will provide depth in CSC's outside hitter unit that also includes returners Briseno, Ward, Natali Keni and Bo French. 

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Beyond Lacy, junior Josie Loosvelt could rotate in at the libero position and will be one of CSC's main defensive specialists alongside redshirt sophomore Katie Bell and redshirt junior Naomi Starr, who combined to play in just three sets last season.

The Classic Field
Aside from the first look of the season at Chadron State's 2025 volleyball roster, this weekend's classic also provides CSC fans the opportunity to look at five additional programs up close, including a nationally ranked squad and an RMAC rival. 

Augustana
The Augustana Vikings of Sioux Falls, South Dakota went 13-15 during the 2024 season, including an early season sweep of South Dakota Mines, although Augustana lost to Colorado School of Mines. The Vikings were picked to finish 10 out of 16 teams in a deep Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) in 2025. 

The Vikings feature 10 players over six feet tall, including NSIC Player to Watch Sydney Tims, who averaged 1.2 kills/set while hitting .203 and racking up 40 service aces. Ninth-year head coach Jennifer Jacobs will have 15 players coming back from last year's roster alongside four newcomers. 

Black Hills State
The second of two RMAC programs at the Eagle Classic, Black Hills State is looking to rebound from a 2024 that saw the Yellow Jackets finish 5-21 and 1-13 in the RMAC. The Yellow Jackets were picked to finish 15^thin the RMAC Preseason Poll, but have a new 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. 

Black Hills State also has some player continuity in 2025, returning middle blockers Randi Wellhoefer and Jaeda Davis-Golliher, who combined for 85 percent of the team's blocks last season, as well as starting setter Sydnie Tuioti-Mariner and starting libero Ellie Thomas, who was fourth in the RMAC in digs/set last season. 

Northern State
By far the team with the most successful 2024 season competing at the Eagle Classic, the Northern State Wolves (Aberdeen, South Dakota) finished 21-7 last season. Northern State, which also competes in the NSIC, was picked to finish fifth in that preseason poll after advancing to the 2024 conference tournament semifinals. The Wolves enter the season and the classic with a No. 25 national ranking in the AVCA Coaches Poll. 

Northern State returns a star in libero Abby Schauer. Last season (as Abby Meister), Schauer was the Northern Sun's Libero of the Year and earned AVCA Honorable Mention All-American honors for averaging 5.67 digs/set and digging 578 balls in total. Returning attackers for the Wolves include Natalia Szybinska, a 5-10 native of Poland who had a team-high 329 kills last season, and Harrisburg, South Dakota's Morissen Samuels, who recorded 266 kills, third high on the team, as a sophomore.

Saint Martin's
The Saint Martin's Saints of Lacey, Washington compete in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC). After accumulating a 6-20 record last season (4-14 in conference), the 2025 Saints have a first-year head coach in Haley Domeck, who spent four seasons guiding Linfield University (NCAA DIII, Oregon). Saint Martin's was picked ninth out of 10 teams in the GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll. 

Junior outside hitter Emily Garten is SMU's top returner. Garten led the conference with 0.54 aces/set in 2024 and led her team in both kills (248) and aces (53). Garten is a Preseason All-GNAC selection. Senior Emmy Hansen, who was the team's second-leading attacker behind Garten, and senior Tiffany Lam, the team's starting setter, also return. 

UMary
The third and final Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) team in the six-team classic field, the University of Mary Marauders from Bismarck, North Dakota had the worst 2024 record of any 2025 Eagle Classic participant, finishing 4-22 and 2-16 in conference, including a four-set loss to Chadron State last season. Mary was picked 14^th of 16 in the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll.

Senior setter Maddy Freed was named as an NSIC Player to Watch after leading the team with 25 aces and 843 assists (her 9.16 assists/set ranked seventh in the NSIC), while also chipping in 168 digs and 27 blocks. Middle blocker and Ogallala, Nebraska native Gabby Caskey led the team with 209 kills last season while hitting .201 and returns for her senior season. 

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.