Tourney hopes, season ended by MSU
Chadron State volleyball’s season came to an end Saturday, just one win shy of qualifying for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament.
Their two final matches, played Friday and Saturday at the Chicoine Center, both ended in straight sets losses to Metropolitan State University of Denver which entered the postseason as the number two seed in the conference.
CSC failed to score over 20 points in any set during the matches.
“I think they’re disappointed for sure,” CSC Head Volleyball Coach Jennifer Stadler said outside of the Eagles’ locker room, Saturday. “I know the group wanted to make the tournament – that was kind of a goal we set at the beginning of the season. But I think they’ve got to feel proud of what they’ve done this year.”
The Eagles may have ended the season just short of their goal, but in doing so they earned a 14-12 overall record. It is the first time CSC volleyball has had a winning record since 2003 when the team went 17-11 and 9-10 in the RMAC. It was also the last time the team qualified for the post-season tournament.
“This team in general did a real good job of fighting all year,” Stadler said. “From the first day they stepped foot in practice they had this sense that they wanted to be better and get better, and they kept coming in with that same intensity and energy.”
Only twice this season did the team lose more than two games consecutively, and twice they earned a three-game win streak. Four of their losses came in the fifth set, including their match against the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Cougars – the match that ultimately kept the Eagles out of the conference tournament after the two teams tied with an 8-10 RMAC record to end the season.
This weekend marked the final matches for CSC senior libero Ashton Burditt who Tuesday was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year by the RMAC and earned her way to the conferences All-RMAC Second Team. She holds CSC records for the most digs in three, four and five set matches.
Saturday, Burditt gave some credit for her successful season to first-year coach Stadler.
“She’s very relaxed and very confident,” Burditt said. “She makes you feel confident in the way you play. The last couple of years I grinded and I worked and that’s where I got that base for my talent. Then this last year was just having someone behind me that trusted what I was doing and trusted what the team was doing. She was a big confidence booster.
Burditt said she’s excited to see where the Eagles’ program goes in the future.
“We five seniors set a good standard and good ground work and legacy,” Burditt said. “It would be kind of heartbreaking to see the girls we played with let that go. I don’t think they have the heart to let it go.”