While we were out: Eagles VB fights to a 2-0 weekend in South Dakota

The Chadron State Eagles’ volleyball team improved their record to 11-5 during The Eagle’s midterm break, defeating South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Friday, Oct. 11 and then Black Hills State University on Saturday, Oct. 12. Both games were played on the road.
Friday the Eagles battled to win in five sets against SDSMT. Final scores were 19-25, 25-17, 23-25, 25-18, and 15-11. On Saturday, the Eagles, fought to a five-set win, defeating the Yellow Jackets that ended 25-23, 25-19, 22-25, 18-25, and 15-11.
Neither win came easy for the Eagles. “I was really proud of the way they came out in that fifth set and then continued to push throughout the whole set,” Head Coach Jennifer Stadler said after Friday’s win.
“I believe a player that really stood out to us tonight was Shelby (redshirt senior Shelby Schouten, of
Alton, Iowa)she set up a really good block against their best outside hitter so I thought she definitely stood out for us offensively.”
The outside hitter Stadler referred to was sophomore Dana Thomson, of Fruita, Colorado.
“(Thomson) is a really good hitter. She does a good job and I thought we did a good job minimizing her,” Stadler said.
After losing the first set, the Eagles powered back to win 25-17 in the second. The Hardrockers came out strong in the third, but the Eagles fought back, making it a challenge. The set ended with a 25-23 loss for Chadron. The Eagles then took the fourth and fifth sets 25-18 and 15-11 to finish the match with a win.
The Eagles’ offense was led on Friday by Schouten who ended with 17 kills, hit a .348, and also had 4 block assists. Freshman Rylee Greiman, of Windsor, Colorado, had a double-double with 14 kills and 21 digs. Junior Chandler Hageman, of Chadron, Nebraska, was only two blocks from a triple-double with 11 kills, 10 digs, and 8 block assists.
For the Eagles’ defense, five players had double-digit digs. Senior libero Ashton Burditt, of Spearfish,
South Dakota, lead with 38, Rylee Greiman had 21, Karli Noble, junior of Cheyenne, Wyoming, had 18,
Tori Strickbine, freshmen of Stillwell, Kansas, had 16 along with 41 assists, and Chandler Hageman had 10.
Since 2012 the Eagle’s away record against SDSMT is 5-3, according to the Chadron State College
website. The Eagles haven’t lost a game to the Hardrockers since 2015.
On Saturday, the kill leaders for the team were led by Greiman with 15, Schouten had 14, and freshman Kassidy Nelson, of Mountain View, Wyoming, had 9. Next on that list was senior Timmi Keisel of Fleming, Colorado, and Chandler Hageman tied with 7 kills. Hageman also hit a .438 along with 7 block assists.
Like the night before, five Eagles had double-digit digs on Saturday. Leading was Burditt with 40,
Strickbine had 21, Greiman was tied at 17 with Sophomore Kincaid Strain, of Elk River, Minnesota, and
Karli Noble had 11.