SPEARFISH, S.D. – Chadron State volleyball hit a season-best .290 with a season-high 65 kills as the Eagles prevailed over Black Hills State – 25-18, 25-19, 23-25, 25-18 – to beat their rivals for the third time this season in an RMAC Power Pod match in Spearfish Thursday night.
For CSC, the win improves the Eagles to 9-12 on the season. The loss in Thursday's nonconference match drops BHSU to 8-13. All three match-ups between the Eagles and Yellow Jackets in 2026 have now ended in four-set CSC victories.
Mataya Ward led the way offensively with 20 kills, eclipsing the 20-kill barrier for the fourth time this season and second time against Black Hills State, while
Sarah Meservey (10 kills),
Kally Kirkwood (10) and
Brandi Helzer (nine) also chipped in.
Meservey and Helzer each hit over .400 for the Eagles, recording only one attack error each. Meservey hit .450 on a season-high-tying 20 attempts while Helzer finished at a .400 hitting percentage in 20 attempts.
Avery Lacy (22 digs) and
Josie Loosvelt (11) each tallied double-digit digs while Donovan (28 assists) and
Cydnie Eskew (22) shared setter duties.
Both setters contributed to the high hitting percentage as well, with Donovan collecting a season-high four kills, one off a career-high, on eight attempts to hit .500 as the Yellow Jackets overall had few answers for Donovan's sneaky attacks on two. Eskew also skipped a set once in the third set, collecting a kill on her only attack attempt.
The Eagles' .290 percentage is CSC's highest since an October 30, 2025 match against these same Yellow Jackets, and beats out the previous season high of .276 against Western Colorado on September 19, a five-set win. Chadron State faces Western Colorado for the second time in 2026 on Friday night.
Chadron State hit over .300 in two sets, recording a .393 percentage in the second set and a .333 percentage in the fourth. The Eagles had over 15 kills in all four sets. Black Hills State hit .225 in set one, then hit under .200 in the next three sets.
Defensively, the Eagles collected 12 blocks, tied for their third-highest total in 2026. The Eagles won despite BHSU collecting more digs (74-71) and more aces (4-1), with CSC's hit by
Josie Loosvelt.
Chadron State took a 4-3 lead in set one and maintained it the rest of the way with a match-high 18 kills. Ward had seven kills in the first set alone while
Sydney Strode and Meservey had three apiece.
The Eagles also never trailed in set two, taking the lead from the outset on a Meservey kill. After the Yellow Jackets tied it at 8-8, Chadron State went on a 7-0 scoring run to take a 15-8 lead, followed by another 5-0 run to make it 21-14 shortly after.
Although Chadron State lost the third set, the Eagles mounted a huge rally to nearly pull off the sweep and gain confidence for the fourth set. Black Hills State led 15-10, but the Eagles thundered back to take a 21-20 with a series of high-energy rallies and points.
Of the 11 points scored on that 11-5 run, 10 were either a kill or a block. Black Hills State rallied, however, winning five of the final seven points contested in the set to win the third 25-23 and extend things to a fourth.
The fourth set was the closest, with eight ties and three lead changes. CSC took the lead for good with a run of four consecutive kills by
Mataya Ward to turn a 14-14 tie into an 18-14 Eagle lead. Ward collected six kills in the final set.
Gibson Beckler, Helzer and Meservey provided kills to give CSC match point before a Yellow Jacket attack error ended the match.
Chadron State will remain in Spearfish for another RMAC Power Pod match against Western Colorado on Friday at 5 p.m. from the A2 Arena.
