CHADRON, Neb. – After coming up a whisker short in a thrilling, marathon first set, Chadron State volleyball seemingly lost momentum from there, falling to Westminster in a Senior Night showdown in straight sets – 30-28, 25-20, 25-11 – from the Chicoine Center on Saturday.
The loss to wrap up homecoming weekend drops the Eagles to 10-15 and 3-10 in the RMAC with one match left to play. Westminster improves to 4-20 with a 3-9 RMAC record.
Mataya Ward led CSC with 13 kills while sophomore
Brandi Helzer hit 10 in 21 attempts, hitting .333 for the match. It was Helzer's second match this season with double-digit kills.
Westminster hit a consistently clinical .298 for the match, the second-highest attack percentage by a CSC opponent this season. The Griffins hit .296 or better in all three sets and closed the match on a high by hitting .304 in the third.
The Griffins hit 21 kills in each of the first two sets, then let their service do the work by hitting five of their seven aces in the third set.
Chadron State trended the other direction offensively. The Eagles were hitting a respectable .239 through two sets of action before a seven-kill, nine-error third set dropped them to .167 overall in the match.
Westminster had the upper hand statistically. The Griffins had more kills (51-37), more aces (7-3), more blocks (8-5), more assists (49-37) and more digs (51-47).
It didn't seem like Saturday's match would be the first of CSC's eight home matches to only last three sets based on the opening frame between the two teams. Set one had 14 ties and two lead changes, including 11 ties
after 17-17.
Chadron State rallied to get back in the set, falling behind 12-7 at one point but using a 7-2 scoring run to tie the match at 17-all. Two Westminster service errors contributed to that run alongside two
Gibson Beckler kills, two attack errors and a block from Sarah Messervey and Helzer.
The Eagles and Griffins alternated points from there. Westminster saved two CSC set points at 24-23 and 25-24 before the Eagles survived three Griffin set points at 26-25, 27-26 and 28-27 prior to an ace at 29-28 finally sending the set Westminster's way.
Gibson Beckler had seven of her nine kills for the match in the first set as the Eagles tallied 16 total kills, including on four of the final five points that CSC scored.
Chadron State had its best offensive set in the second, hitting .279 as a team, but couldn't keep up with the volume of kills from Westminster despite 24 team digs in the set.
In the third set, Chadron State fell behind 8-2 and gave up an 11-0 scoring run to trail 19-4 as Westminster closed out the win.
Chadron State ends the 2026 home schedule with a 1-7 record in the Chicoine Center. The Eagles are 5-6 on the road and have one road match remaining.
Saturday's contest was the final home game for eight Chadron State seniors –
Kiera Alfred,
Gibson Beckler,
Katie Bell,
Cydnie Eskew,
Kally Kirkwood,
Avery Lacy,
Josie Loosvelt and
Naomi Starr.
All eight saw action – Bell's two sets played doubled her total for the year while Starr, nursing a knee injury, came onto the court to serve for one point. Eskew led the Eagles with 20 assists while Lacy, the libero, tallied a team-high 11 digs.
Chadron State wraps up the regular season at Colorado School of Mines on Friday, November 6 at 6 p.m. in Golden, Colorado.
