Powered by exceptional defense, the Regis Rangers ended Chadron State's volleyball season Tuesday night by sweeping past the Eagles during the first round of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's playoffs in Denver. The scores were 25-13, 25-19, 25-18.

    With 6-foot-5 Amelia Davis and 6-2 Natalie Burbrink stationed up front as middle hitters for Regis, the Eagles had trouble operating their offense.  Both of the rangy Rangers were credited with seven blocks, and they also combined for 19 kills, just one shy of Chadron State's total. 
   
    All told, Regis had 39 kills and 14 attack errors in 87 hits for a .287 percentage.  The Eagles actually had 10 more attacks than the Rangers, but only 20 of them netted points while 25 of them went into the error column.  That means CSC had a minus .052 attack figure.

    Burbrink, a graduate student from Germany, had 11 kills and no hitting errors in 19 swats for a .579 percentage, to go with her seven assisted blocks.  Davis had eight kills and a .313 hitting figure, and was credited with the match's only solo block along with six assisted stops.

    The Rangers, ranked No. 11 nationally entering the playoffs, also got lots of productivity from another grad student, 5-9 Mara LeGrand, a native of Omaha. She's the team's setter and handed out 30 assists and also came up with 12 digs, both match-high numbers, to go with six assisted blocks. 

    Junior Aiyana Fujiyama, a native of Hawaii, paced the Eagles with seven kills and five assisted blocks.  Freshman Kally Kirkwood added three blocks. Libero Alondra Hernandez had the team-high eight digs.

    Although the Eagles' season has ended, it was a good one in many ways.  Their 15 total victories are the most in 20 years and this was the first time the team has qualified for the RMAC playoffs since 2003. In addition, their 8-6 regular-season conference record is the first with more wins than losses since 2002. 

    Regis is now 21-6 overall and 12-2 in the RMAC.  The Rangers will meet Colorado Mesa in the playoff semifinals on Friday after the Mavericks defeated Colorado Christian 25-21, 25-23, 25-23 Tuesday night.

    On the other side of the bracket, top-seeded Metro State swept Westminster 25-17, 25-23 25-12, and South Dakota Mines in five sets downed CSU-Pueblo 25-23, 13-25, 32-30, 15-25, 15-12.  

    The Metro Roadrunners, who are seventh in the latest NCAA II rankings after ending the regular season with a 21-5 record, including a 13-1 RMAC log, will host the remainder of the playoffs, which will conclude Saturday with the championship match.

Adams named Second Team All-Conference; Fago and Hernandez tabbed Honorable Mention

            Chadron State College volleyball sophomore middle hitter Bella Adams of Pueblo, Colorado was named to the 2023 All-Conference RMAC Volleyball Second Team, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference announced Wednesday. 
 
            Right Side Mayson Fago, senior of Evans, Colorado and Libero Alondra Hernandez, a junior of Provo, Utah, were also named All- RMAC Honorable Mention.  
 
            Adams led the Eagles defensively with 95 blocks, averaging 1.01 blocks per set. This ranks her 4th in the RMAC. She finished the regular season with 208 kills on 520 swings for a .288 hitting percentage. 
            
            With a .288 hitting percentage she finished second for CSC behind fellow middle hitter Aiyana Fujiyama. 
 
            Fago led the eagles offensively this season with 280 kills on 829 swings for a hitting percentage of .200 and 2.95 average per set. She finished the season ranked 15th in the conference in kills. 
            
            With 44 total blocks, Fago finished fourth for CSC.
 
            Hernandez, who transferred to Chadron from Norfolk State, finished the season with 424 digs, averaging 4.42 per set. This places her fourth in the conference. 
            
            With 37 service aces, Hernandez finished in first for CSC with a 0.39 service aces per set. 
 
            RMAC Player of the Year went to Sydney Leffler of Colorado Mesa. Ivy Vindivich of South Dakota Mines took home RMAC Freshman of the Year. RMAC Defensive Player and Setter of the Year went to Allison Waller and Sabrina VanDeList of Colorado Mesa. MSU Denver's Jenny Glenn took home RMAC Coach of the Year.