CSC volleyball hosts scrimmage

Even muffled by facemasks, the yells and cheers of players and fans, echoed off the wall of the Chicoine Center, Saturday, accompanied by the other familiar sights and sounds of a game fans have been deprived of this semester due to COVID-19.

Despite having their season disrupted by the pandemic, the Chadron State volleyball team finally got into game action when it hosted Black Hills State University for an informal scrimmage, Saturday. No more than 250 spectators were allowed to attend. 

“I just think in the times right now, this was a good thing for our girls to be able to play against somebody else and not just practice this whole off season that we get,” Head Volleyball Coach Jennifer Stadler said. “I think they were just excited to be here today and at least we’re not having to play against ourselves for a while four months, we kind of got a little break.”

Chadron took one of five sets, while Black Hills took the other four, but the energy was high with each team throughout each set. 

The teams played with no referees and a player on each team serving as line judge. The game was an opportunity for the two teams to play a different opponent, and they were honest with calls and touches, whether it was the volleyball or the net.

Stadler said that practices have been going well and with this scrimmage they can analyze film and view areas they need to strengthen, break down practice and adjust for future competition.

“It was tough coming back in August after not playing for six months as a team, but we’ve all been very optimistic,” Amelia Berg, junior of Fort Collins, said. “Since volleyball is a fall sport, we never get to play for a lengthy time with the incoming freshman, so it has been great playing together as a team before we can compete.”

The Eagles brought in seven freshmen who joined six sophomores, six juniors, and one senior.

“I thought our returners did a good job of settling in quickly with nerves and playing,” Stadler said, “I thought our newcomers did some good things. I think there’s a lot of things that we can work on as a team, but I think our girls that haven’t been here got an early experience to what our season and the teams we play are going to look like.”

The volleyball season is postponed until the spring semester, but the plan is to improve before the spring semester begins.

“We have been working really hard these past couple of months on our skills,” Berg said. “For the remainder of the semester we’re going to continue working to improve ourselves individually and as a team We have a lot of great talent and we can’t wait to showcase it this upcoming spring season.”