After finishing the Pittsburg State Classic 2-2, the Chadron State College volleyball team returns to the road as they start Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play, facing the Fort Lewis Skyhawks of Durango, Colorado, on Friday and the Grizzlies of Adams State in Alamosa, Colorado on Saturday.

The Eagles first opponent, the Fort Lewis Skyhawks, opened their season last weekend while going 0-4 at the Westminster Griffins Classic. The Skyhawks lost in five sets to the Griffins of Westminster College in Utah, in four sets to Truman State University of Missouri and were swept by Lubbock Christian of Texas and Minnesota State-Mankato.

With six seniors on their roster, the Skyhawks don’t lack experience. They are led offensively by senior Haley Christiansen, who finished last weekend with 46 kills. Setter, sophomore Bella Valdez finished with 85 assists.

Defensively, Christiansen leads the team with 60 digs while senior Maddie LeBlanc has ten blocks.

Last season, the Eagles swept the Skyhawks at home, winning 25-18, 25-21 and 25-23.

The Adam State Grizzlies opened their season 3-5, after going 2-2 in the Lady Buff Classic and 1-3 at the Dixie State/Crystal Inn Classic.

At the Lady Buff Classic, the Grizzlies won in five sets against Eastern New Mexico and Emporia State of Kansas, before losing to West Texas A&M in three sets and Rockhurst University of Missouri in four sets.

Adam States lone victory in the Dixie State/Crystal Inn Classic came against Western New Mexico in five sets, after being swept by Arkansas Fort Smith and Tarleton State of Texas and losing to University of Colorado-Colorado Springs in five sets.

Opposite of the Skyhawks, the Grizzlies roster is rather young. Four juniors, four sophomores, and eight freshmen make up the team.

Junior Hannah Goddard leads the Grizzlies offensively, recording 104 kills on the season. Junior Rachael Ringler has 322 assists, an average of 10.06 a set.

Sophomore Shannon Mulkey leads the team defensively with 22 blocks while sophomore Mackenzie Swanson has accounted for 133 digs.

In 2017, the Grizzlies swept the Eagles in Chadron, 25-18, 25-20 and 25-23.

Eagle coach Riann Mullis said the team got better over the last two weeks.

“We really showed improvement over the past two weekends,” Mullis said. “We are going to focus on what we learned from them and get ready to start conference play.”

After being on the road this weekend, the Eagles will open their home schedule on September 14, as they face Regis University.