Lauren Zimmerman-CSC Sports Information
LAS VEGAS, N.M. – Chadron State volleyball ended the 2024 season with a sweep of New Mexico Highlands University on Friday night in Las Vegas. The scores were 25-13, 25-21, and 25-18.
The Eagles totaled 34 kills and 44 blocks with a hitting percentage of .240 in comparison to 27 kills and 33 digs with a hitting percentage of .069 for the Cowgirls.
For the Eagles, Kally Kirkwood led with nine kills and Natali Keni was right behind her with seven. Aiyana Fujiyama and Avery Lacy both ended the match with a hitting percentage of .500. Kendyl Kirkwood led the Eagles with 13 digs.
The Cowgirls were led in kills by Jada Lawson with eight and Jalyee Gonzales with seven. Meg Pfannerstill led the Cowgirls with 12 digs while also leading with nine and a half points and two service aces for her team.
In the first set, the Eagles fell behind once, but retook the lead and never gave it back. CSC went on a run of six points, with five of those points coming from kills and one from an Alondra Hernandez service ace to make the score 11-7. NMHU responded with four straight points to tie the game, but the Eagles responded with 11 straight points after that, receiving multiple errors from the Cowgirls, two kills from Kally Kirkwood, and a kill apiece from Natali Keni and Bella Adams to give the Eagles an advantage of 22-11. The Eagles only gave the Cowgirls two more points during the set and sealed the deal with two errors from New Mexico Highlands to make the first set final score 25-13.
The second set was closer than the first, with the Eagles and Cowgirls staying within five points of each other. The Cowgirls started the scoring but with an attack error from NMHU shortly after, the Eagles got on the board. CSC took the momentum of the set when they tied the score at eight apiece and then won the next point from an error to keep the lead for the rest of the set. The Eagles were led by Natali Keni, Mataya Ward, Kally Kirkwood, and Aiyana Fujiyama, who combined for 11 kills in the set to help the Eagles clinch the set 25-21.
New Mexico Highlands won the first point of the third set, but like in the second set, the Eagles quickly answered by taking the lead with an error and a kill from Avery Lacy, making the score 2-1. Highlands would briefly came back to take the lead at 12-11, but the Eagles responded quickly to keep the lead the rest of the set. CSC compiled 12 kills by six different Eagles – Avery Lacy, Natali Keni, Aiyana Fujiyama, Mataya Ward, Kally Kirkwood, and Bella Adams – to win the last set 25-18.
The result ends the season for Chadron State. The Eagles finish 2024 at 6-20 overall and 2-12 in the RMAC. Chadron State will either finish 13th or 14th in the league depending on the result of the New Mexico Highlands and Colorado Christian match tomorrow night. CSC will be 13th with a Cougars win.
The focus now shifts to awards season, with RMAC All-Conference and All-Academic teams due to be announced in the coming weeks.