PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo volleyball hits the road this week for Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference matches at Chadron State and Colorado Christian.

The ThunderWolves, who are currently tied for fourth in the league standings, opens the road trip on Thursday with a 6 p.m. match at Chadron State College, before concluding the road trip with a 5 p.m. match on Saturday in Lakewood, Colo., against Colorado Christian University.

CSU Pueblo has played 16 matches this season and all but three of them have been played away from Massari Arena as the Pack are 2-1 at home and 4-9 away from home, including being 2-1 on the road in RMAC play.

The Pack enters this week's action sporting a 6-10 overall record and a 4-2 mark in the RMAC after splitting home matches last weekend with No. 10 Colorado Mesa and Westminster. The Pack opened the weekend with a four-set loss to nationally-ranked Colorado Mesa, before collecting a three-set sweep over Westminster. All six of the Pack's wins this season have come in three-set sweeps. CSU Pueblo has won five of their last eight matches after starting the season 1-7.

In the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll, the Pack were tabbed to finish fifth as they received 147 points in voting by the league's 15 head coaches. Last season, CSU Pueblo went 19-9 overall and 12-6 in the RMAC and advanced to the NCAA South Regional Tournament for the second consecutive season.

Thursday's match-up with Chadron State will mark the 37th all-time meeting with the Pack holding a 24-12 advantage in the series. The Pack have won three straight matches and a 7-3 in the last 10 matches against the Eagles, including collecting a three-set sweep last season at home. Saturday's match with Colorado Christian marks the 46th all-time meeting with CCU holding a slight 23-22 edge. The Pack, though, have won six straight in the series and seven of the last 10 overall, including a three-set sweep last season at home.

ABOUT THE THUNDERWOLVES
CSU Pueblo has been paced offensively this season by redshirt sophomore outside hitter Payton Van Veen (Springfield, Mo./Washburn University) and sophomore outside hitter Sadie Scoville (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleasant Grove). Van Veen leads the team in kills (172), kills per set (2.97) and is tied for second in blocks with 35, is fourth in aces with 11 and is hitting .251, while Scoville is second in both kills (159) and kills per set (2.69) and leads the team in digs (181), digs per set (3.07) and aces (28) and is hitting .258. Scoville has also recorded seven double-doubles, including tallying double-doubles in back-to-back matches last weekend.

One other Pack player – sophomore outside hitter Kendall Harrington (San Antonio, Texas/Tom C. Clark) – has recorded over 140 kills as she has tallied 142 kills and is averaging 2.63 kills per set and is hitting .291. She has had six matches with double-digit kills and has hit over .300 in seven matches.

The Pack offense is directed by junior setter Sabrina King (Parker, Colo./Lutheran) and senior setter Grace Jansen (Sandy, Utah/Jordan). King leads the team in assists with 299 and is averaging 5.07 assists per set and has had 95 digs and is third in aces with 21, while Jansen has recorded 297 assists and is averaging 5.03 assists and has had 116 digs and is second in aces with 24. Both Jansen and King have each recorded three double-doubles on the year.

One of the biggest strengths this season for the Pack is serving aces as they enter this week's action third in the league in both total aces (108) and aces per set (1.83.) Five Pack players have recorded double-digit aces, including Scoville (28), Jansen (24) and King (21) all recording 20 or more aces on the year. The Pack have had five or more aces in a match 12 times, including tallying a season high 15 aces against Ouachita Baptist.

Another strength for the Pack is their blocking as they are averaging 1.81 blocks per set and have recorded 106.5 blocks on the year. Six Pack players have recorded 12 or more blocks on the year with redshirt sophomore middle blocker Golden Finch (Albuquerque, N.M./Cal State Bakersfield) leading the way with 47 as she is averaging 1.02 blocks per set, which is seventh-best in the RMAC. She has had three or more blocks in a match 10 times, including a high of seven blocks at Black Hills State. In addition to Finch, Van Veen are junior middle blocker Josey Nunn (Kingwood, Texas/Porter) are each second in blocks with 35. Scoville has had 22 blocks, while Harrington has had 17 and freshman middle blocker Macy Wood (Sandy, Utah/Alta) has recorded 12 blocks and is averaging 0.67 blocks per set. The Pack have five or more blocks in a match 12 times, including a season high 10 blocks against UCCS at the RMAC Regional Pod on Sept. 29.

As a team, CSU Pueblo has recorded 747 kills, 855 digs, 108 aces and is hitting .237 on the year, which is fifth-best in the league. The Pack are averaging 11.61 assists pet set and their opponents are hitting .213 on the year.

ABOUT CHADRON STATE
The Eagles have been one of the surprise teams this season in the RMAC as they were tabbed to finish 11th in the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll, but they enter play this week sporting a 10-6 overall record and are tied for fourth in the RMAC with a 4-2 league record. The Eagles' losses in RMAC play have come at MSU Denver (3-1) and at Regis (3-1). Both of those teams are ranked in the Top 12 of this week's latest AVCA/Taraflex Division II Coaches' Poll.

Prior to its loss to Regis last Saturday, the Eagles had reeled off five consecutive wins and their 10 wins this season are three more than the program won last season when they posted a 7-20 overall record.

Leading the way for the Eagles offensively this season are graduate student outside hitter Lexi Hurtado and senior right side hitter Mayson Fago. Those two players have each recorded 167 kills on the year. Hurtado is averaging 2.98 kills per set and is second in digs with 147 and third in blocks with 32 and has tallied 15 aces, while Fago is averaging 2.93 kills per set and is fourth in blocks with 27 and is hitting .197. A third Eagle player, sophomore middle hitter Bella Adams has recorded 124 kills and a team-leading 59 blocks and is hitting .266. Adams is fifth in the league in blocks per set at 1.05.

Setting the table for the Eagles offense is junior setter Kendyl Kirkwood. Kirkwood is sixth in the league in assists as she averages 8.96 per set and is third in digs with 122 and has had 11 aces. In addition, she has tallied 16 blocks from the setter position.

Defensively, CSC is led by junior libero Alondra Hernandez, who is averaging a team-best 4.47 digs per set and also leads the team in aces with 22. In addition to Hernandez, Adams and junior middle hitter Aiyana Fujiyama are the top blockers on the team as they have combined for 97 blocks and are averaging 1.05 and 0.75 blocks per set respectively.

As a team, the Eagles are hitting .206 and they are third in the league in blocks per set (2.05), fourth in digs per set (15.22) and fourth in total blocks (119). They have recorded 672 kills, 612 assists, 883 digs and 98 aces on the year and their opponents are hitting .208.

The Eagles are coached by Jennifer Stadler, who is in her fifth season at Chadron State and has compiled a 40-68 overall record. Prior to working at Chadron, Stadler, who is a graduate of Black Hills State University, spent eight seasons as the head volleyball coach at Sheridan College in Wyoming.

ABOUT COLORADO CHRISTIAN
The Cougars, who host Adams State on Friday before facing the Pack on Saturday, come into this week's action sporting a 7-9 overall record and a 3-3 mark in the RMAC after splitting league matches last weekend at Regis and UCCS. CCU opened the weekend with a three-set loss at Regis, before earning a five-set win at UCCS. That win at UCCS snapped a three-match losing skid for the Cougars.

Leading the way offensively for CCU is sophomore middle hitter Renee Phillips. Phillips is averaging 2.22 kills per set and is hitting .313, while senior outside hitter Alli Douglass is averaging 2.59 kills in 41 sets and is hitting .228. A third Cougar has recorded 100-plus kills on the season as junior outside hitter Abby Breeding has had 114 kills and is averaging 2.15 kills per set.

Setting the table for the Cougars offense this season has been junior setter Izzy Jones, who is averaging 10.00 assists per set, which is fourth-best in the RMAC. Along with leading the team in assists, she also leads in aces with 23 and is third in digs with 93 and has had 19 blocks.

Defensively, sophomore defensive specialist Jessamyn Rose is averaging 2.86 digs per set, while Breeding is averaging 2.08 digs per set. Phillips and junior middle hitter Lilly Woods have each recorded over 40 blocks on the season as Phillips has had 44 and is averaging 0.80 per set, while Woods has had 43 blocks and is averaging 0.77 per set.

As a team, CCU has recorded 697 kills, 656 assists, 705 digs and 96 blocks and is hitting .232, which is sixth-best in the RMAC and their opponents are hitting .236.

CCU is coached by Bobby Blanken, who is in his seventh season with the Cougars. He has compiled a 77-54 record at CCU and has led the program to double-digit wins in five of his first six seasons and has led the program to four RMAC Tournament appearances. Prior to working at CCU, Blanken served as the assistant head coach at MSU Denver from 2014-16.

In the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll, CCU has tabbed to finish in sixth place as the Cougars earned 127 points in the poll. Last season, CCU went 15-13 overall and 10-8 in the RMAC.

UP NEXT FOR PACK
Following this weekend's road matches, the Pack will return home next weekend (Oct. 20-21) s they host Mines and sixth-ranked MSU Denver. The Pack will host Mines on Friday, Oct. 20 in its annual "Pink Out" Night match at 7 p.m., before hosting MSU Denver on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 3 p.m.