Eagle losses could make for interesting finish

The last time the Chadron State College Eagles’ volleyball team beat Colorado School of Mines, George W. Bush was in office,  the first iPhone had been announced earlier that year and NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft was only jetting past Jupiter on its way Pluto. 

That was 2007.

Friday’s straight-sets loss was the Eagles’ 21st consecutive since they beat the Orediggers in five, Oct. 27 of that year. Former Eagle Lindsy Heisler had a school record 26 kills in the match. 

“Colorado Mines is a good team,” CSC Head Coach Jennifer Stadler said. “What they do really well is they don’t make a lot of errors and they’re a very consistent team. I thought that we played alright against them; the scores were pretty close and there were a couple of sets where we were up late but were just unable to close out.”

The day after Friday’s loss, the Eagles fell in five sets (25-19, 21-25, 21-25, 25-20, 13-15) to the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, extending their losing streak to three, their longest slide of the season. CSC is now 13-9 overall and an even 7-7 against RMAC opponents.

Over their last 10 games the Eagles are 5-5, and only one of those wins came in fewer than five sets. 

“We’re definitely facing the tougher opponents in our conference,” Stadler said. “That’s part of it. We have a little inconsistency in our play right now which hasn’t helped us. That’s why some of those matches have gone to five (sets). The good thing is a lot of those we were able to come out on top which has given us confidence. Unfortunately the Saturday game we slipped and lost in the fifth set.”

With four games remaining, the Eagles’ opportunity to end the season with a winning record for the first time since 2003 could be in danger. Their shot at the post-season is also on the line. The team is currently ninth in the RMAC standings, one win behind Colorado State University – Pueblo and UCCS, and one win ahead of Western and South Dakota Mines. 

“Every year at the beginning of the year we say ‘we’re going to make the conference tournament this year,’” senior middle hitter Timmi Keisel, of Fleming, Colorado, said. “So it’s definitely something that I’ve been thinking about, especially because this is my last chance to do it. In practice we don’t talk about it a whole lot, but we all know what these games mean. 

Even though it puts a lot more pressure on us, we’re excited to play at home and excited to do better than we did last weekend.”

All four remaining games will be played at home, starting Friday against Black Hills State University who they beat in five sets Oct. 12, in Spearfish. Saturday, they’ll face South Dakota School of Mines who the Eagles beat in five sets Oct. 11. BHSU is currently sixth in the RMAC with a 9-6 record; South Dakota is 11th at 6-9. 

Wins over both teams could be important as the Eagles close out their regular season with a pair of games against Metropolitan State University of Denver, Nov. 14 and 15. MSU has lost just two matches against RMAC opponents and is second in the standings.  

“These games this weekend are crucial,” Stadler said. “Coming out with two wins this weekend would be a big thing for us and help get us closer to making the conference tournament.”

Friday, the Eagles came out well against the Orediggers, leading 7-2 in the first set, but their lead disappear after Mines scored five straight to go ahead 17-13. Colorado eventually won the set 25-19. The Eagles trailed by three for much of the later part of the second set and pulled to within two at 24-22, but the Orediggers won 25-22 on an attack error by CSC’s Amelia Berg, sophomore of Fort Collins, Colorado. In the third, Chadron used a five-point streak to pull within one at 22-21, but Mines scored the next three to sweep the match. 

“I thought our defense played okay,” Stadler said. “Offensively we didn’t put the ball away in the later parts of the set. When it gets to be over 16 points per team you have to start swinging a bit more aggressively and we weren’t getting that job done.”

The Eagles were held to a .149 hitting percentage while Mines hit .233. The Chadron attack was led by Berg who had nine kills.  Setter Tori Strickbine, freshman of Stillwell, Kansas, had 15 assists and Berg had 11. Libero Ashton Burditt, senior of Spearfish, South Dakota, had 21 digs. 

Saturday, Chadron battled back from a 2-1 deficit to force an extra set against UCCS, but couldn’t overtake the Cougars in the fifth. Twice, first at 10-9, then at 14-13, the Eagles pulled within one, but never led in the deciding set. 

Four Eagles had double-digit kills in the match, led by senior Shelby Schouten, senior of Alton, Iowa, who had 15. Chandler Hageman, sophomore of Chadron, and freshman Rylee Greiman, freshman of Windsor, Colorado, each had 14 and Keisel had 10. Strickbine had 58 assists and Burditt had 25 digs. The Eagles hit .255 to the Cougars .237.