Friday, March 6, 2026
The CSC Eagle Newspaper – Chadron, NE
Latest:
The CSC Eagle Newspaper – Chadron, NE
FeaturedSportsVolleyball

Volleyball team lets ball drop in 4 games at UNK

Guest Author
Sina Mauga, senior of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, jumps for a block, Aug. 22, during the scrimmage against South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. — Photo by Teri Robinson
Sina Mauga, senior of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, jumps for a block, Aug. 22, during the scrimmage against South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. — Photo by Teri Robinson

The Eagles, who were trying to ride the momentum of last weekend’s win, faced some more tough competition when they traveled to Kearney to participate in the University of Nebraska-Kearney Fall Classic.

The Eagles again saw some tough non-conference opponents and managed to let some close sets slip away from them through various errors.

The Eagles started the weekend off against the University of Illinois Springfield, who, before playing the Eagles, were 0-4 but still very competitive in their losses. Offensively, the Eagles were led by Rudy Leasau, a junior of LaMesa, California, who had a total of 16 kills with 44 total attempts. Sierra Winkle, a freshman of Tucson, Arizona, led the Eagles’  defense with a total of 15 digs. The game boiled down to which team could make the least amount of errors; a category CSC led by eight totaling 33 errors while the University of Illinois Springfield had 25 leading to the Eagles eventually losing, 3-1.

In the second game of the day, the Eagles faced off against the University of Nebraska-Kearney, who were 5-2 before playing the Eagles. Gaby Varela, a sophomore of Dorado, Puerto Rico, led the Eagles offensive attack with a total of six kills in 14 attempts in a three-set match, while the defense was anchored by Leasau who tallied eight digs. Even with such hard fought efforts the Eagles ended up losing, 3-0.

The next day, the Eagles faced off against the University of Sioux Falls; the Eagles had a good offensive efficiency from Lelalelei Nomura, senior of Pago Pago, American Samoa. Nomura led the Eagles with 10 kills in 30 total attempts. Chloe Guillen, a sophomore from San Antonio, had a big defensive showing against the Cougars, with a total of 15 digs. The Eagles fought hard against a tough non-conference opponent, but their efforts were not rewarded eventually losing, 3-1.

In the final game of the tournament, the Eagles faced off against the University of Mary Crusaders, the Eagles were led by Leasau with a total of 19 kills in a good offensive day for the Eagles. Defensively, Guillen had a total of 19 digs to help the Eagles fight hard and attempt to salvage a rough weekend. The Eagles showed signs of life but could not pull of the win against the Crusaders eventually losing, 3-1.

“This weekend wasn’t what we hoped it would be,” Guillen said. “We took a big step in where we want to be getting ready for conference play.”

Guillen also said that everyone on the team made great improvements on and off the court.