RAPID CITY, S.D. – Chadron State volleyball took to the court for the first time in 2026 and came up short twice on the opening night of the Hardrocker Volleyball Invitational, losing in three sets to both Jamestown (25-20, 25-12, 25-21) and South Dakota Mines (25-15, 29-27, 25-21) on Friday.
The Eagles' (0-2) opponents both have won all their matches so far at the invite – Jamestown is 2-0 after beating Lake Superior State in three sets while South Dakota Mines (3-0) have swept LSSU, Minnesota Crookston and the Eagles so far.
Gibson Beckler led the team with 10 kills against the Hardrockers and tied for the team lead with five, alongside sophomore
Brandi Helzer and transfer
Rayssa Da Silva, against Jamestown in CSC's opener.
Defensively, libero
Avery Lacy totaled 27 digs (14 vs. Jamestown, 13 vs. SDM) while the Eagles combined for 16 total blocks across the two contests.
Kally Kirkwood and
Sarah Meservey each had a hand in five blocks against Jamestown while Kirkwood, Meservey and Da Silva all tallied four in the nightcap.
Against Jamestown, the Eagle offense couldn't get their attack attempts to land as they managed only 28 kills – with half of that total coming in the third set – compared to UJ's 49. The Eagles hit .095 and .023 in the first two sets before improving to a .150 mark in the third. Jamestown hit .262 in the contest.
Chadron State built an early 5-1 lead in the first set, with two kills, two blocks and a Jamestown misfire contributing to the margin. The Jimmies rallied, however, taking their first lead at 11-10 and taking the lead for good with a 4-0 run that made it 17-13.
Jamestown raced out to a 7-1 lead in the second set and never trailed in that frame, but Chadron State again took a 5-1 lead in set number three. Jamestown rallied through the middle part of the set, and with the score tied at 20-20, the Jimmies closed on a 5-1 run of their own to end the match.
Against South Dakota Mines, the hosts won the first set comfortably, but the second set turned into a heavyweight bout. At 12-12, the Eagles twice went on 3-0 runs to take a three-point lead, only for the Hardrockers to match and tie things up at 15-15 and 18-18. The Eagles appeared to take control when a
Mataya Ward kill, Beckler/Da Silva block and
Kiera Schra kill gave CSC a 22-19 lead, but SDM answered by winning the next five points to get to the set point.
The Eagles fought back. Schra, a freshman, earned another kill before Beckler and Meservey stuffed a Hardrocker attack at the net to knot things up at 24. The Eagles saved two more set points and the Hardrockers saved one before the home team finally found two consecutive points to win the second set in a marathon, 29-27.
Chadron State was step-for-step in the third set, too, as the teams were tied 15-15 before a 4-1 run from South Dakota Mines. Beckler had four kills plus an ace in the set, but South Dakota Mines's offense was too precise as the Hardrockers hit .378 in the final set (.231 for the match).
The Eagles face Lake Superior State at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow, followed by a match against Minnesota Crookston at 2 p.m.
