Kearney, Neb. - The now 7th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney volleyball team will play earlier this weekend, visiting Chadron State Thursday and Colorado Christian Friday.

The Lopers (16-1) currently sit a top the RMAC with a 6-1 league mark. Six teams are right behind with 5-2 records, including 9th-ranked Metro State and 22n-ranked Regis.

UNK will face the Eagles (4-14, 0-7 RMAC) Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Central and then play the Cougars (9-9, 4-3 RMAC) Friday at 8:00 p.m. Central. Go to the Central Region live stats page HERE to follow the action.

To say the Lopers have had Chadron's number of late is an understatement. The last time Kearney lost to CSC in volleyball, the famed "pine tar" incident involving Hall of Famer George Brett of the Kansas City Royals had just taken place, Franco Harris became the third NFL player to reach 11,000 rushing yards and "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson was a hit song.

The year was 1983 and the Lopers lost three times to the Eagles that season before ending the year with a 2-0 win. That was the start of the current 54 match win streak, believed to be one of the longest NCAA win streaks by one school over another in any sport.

UNK swept the current Eagles (-14, -13, -13) back on September 10th at the Health & Sports. That was a non-RMAC match with Chadron slated to return to Kearney on October 18.

After getting off to a 3-1 start, Chadron lost seven straight and is currently on a six-match skid. The Eagles are coached by former Loper graduate assistant Natasha Marquis.

Christian is coming off a sweep of Arizona Christian on Wednesday night. The Cougs are led by sisters Ali and Andi Weber. Both middle hitters, Ali is a freshman who is leading the team in kills (3.18 kps) with Andi being a junior and at 2.80 kills and 0.73 blocks per set.

CCU has lost four matches to nationally-ranked teams this year (Metro, Regis, Lewis, Ill., and Tampa, Fla.).

After beating Metro and Regis last weekend, the Lopers are leading the RMAC in five major stat categories, including kills (14.77) and digs (17.82) per set.

Individually, four different Lopers are hitting over .300 on the season with sophomore middle Haley Lake (.396) leading the conference in this area.

Next week, UNK hosts West Division foes Western State, Colorado Mesa and Fort Lewis in successive days (Thurs.-Sat.).