GOLDEN – The Colorado School of Mines volleyball team reminded the rest of the conference that they are still the reigning champions on Friday, as the No. 18 Orediggers captured a 3-1 win over Colorado Mesa at Lockridge Arena in Golden.

The Orediggers (15-4, 9-1 RMAC) captured their eighth straight win and the 15th in their last 16 matches behind game scores of 23-25, 25-19, 25-16 and 25-14.

Mines increased its lead over the Mavericks (15-3, 7-2 RMAC) in the conference standings after the two entered the matchup on Friday as the top two teams in the league rankings.

Senior co-captain Melanie Wannamaker posted her third match of the season with 20 or more kills with 21 on Friday. The Kingwood, Texas, product posted a .487 attack percentage during the contest after committing just a pair of attack errors. She added four blocks and two digs defensively as well. 

Junior Sarah Pekarek followed on a the stat sheet with her seventh double-double of the season with a 16-kill, 11-dig effort against the Mavericks. She added three blocks defensively as well while knocking down her 16 kills on a .292 attack percentage.

Freshman Alanna Winfield added 14 kills on a .400 attack percentage and a pair of assists as the trio led the squad to a .315 attack percentage. 

Fellow rookie Samantha Fischer posted six kills on a .385 attack percentage while also posting three blocks on the defensive end.

Sophomore Danielle Johnson-Hazlewood posted 53 assists and 12 digs for her team-leading 10th double-double of the season. She added three blocks and a service ace as well during the matchup after entering the weekend third nationally and the RMAC leader with an average of 12.54 assists per set. She averaged 13.25 assists per set in the win over the Mavericks.

Senior co-captain Hannah Margheim led the defense with 22 digs while rookie Taryn Huber added eight and junior Cassie Vick added seven.
 
After dropping a competitive first set by a score of 25-23, the Orediggers got stronger as the evening progressed with 25-19 victory in set two to even up the match. A dominating 25-16 win in set three pushed the momentum towards the home team and the hosts closed out the match with a 25-14 win in set four. 

Mines will close out its weekend action with a 5 p.m. matchup against Fort Lewis at Lockridge Arena on Saturday. The Skyhawks (5-14, 5-4 RMAC) fell to Colorado Christian 3-0 on Friday to snap a four-match winning streak.