Eagles battle against the Hardrockers

For their last regular season match, The Eagles played a long five set game against South Dakota School of Mines, losing to the No. 7 team in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. CSC holds a 4-10 record, 3-9 record in the RMAC, and they are ranked 13th in the conference.

The team started off the match with a win, taking the first set, 25-19. Making the second set difficult, the Eagle went into extra points, eventually losing the set, 26-24. The third and fourth sets went 25-22, but the two were split, pushing the match into the fifth set, the Hardrockers taking the set and the game, 15-4. 

The Eagles had a total of 45 kills through the five sets, but the Hardrockers had 58.

Rhiannon Nez, freshman of Rapid City, South Dakota, led the Eagles with kills, being the only team member to hit double digits with 10 kills. Defensively, she assisted with five blocks and dug twice.

Olivia Moten-Schell, freshman of Billings, Montana, was right behind Nez with nine kills. She dug five attacks and assisted with three blocks.

Kincaid Strain, junior of Elk River, Minnesota, and Breshawna Kelly, junior of Casper, Wyoming, both set 18 times each for a kill. Strain also earned points with a kill of her own and an ace serve, along with eight digs. Kelly dug 12 attacks, earning a kill of 10 attacks.

Defensively, Chandler Hageman, senior of Chadron, and Lexi Hurtado, sophomore of Aurora, Colorado, assisted with the most blocks, earning six each. Hageman killed eight of her 24 attacks, earned a set and three digs. Hurtado killed six attacks and served an ace, digging 13 attacks and earning an assist for a set. 

Rylee Greiman, sophomore of Windsor, Colorado, led the Eagles in digs with 15. Greiman also killed four of her 23 attacks and earned an assist.

Karli Noble, senior of Cheyenne, Wyoming, dug 13 attacks, earned herself an assist, and scored a point with an ace serve.

It has yet to be released if the Eagles will be continuing into the postseason. 

The spring 2021 RMAC Volleyball Tournament will begin Thursday, April 8, at Grand Junction, Colorado.

CSC is near the bottom of the RMAC standings, and the top eight teams will be placed into the tournament brackets. The RMAC will use a performance indicator formula to determine the strength of a teams wins and loses due to uneven schedules, much like basketball.