LEXINGTON, Ky. – Following another 2-0 weekend to push its winning streak to 11 straight, the Colorado School of Mines volleyball team moved up one spot to fifth in this week's edition of the AVCA Division II Coaches Poll, the association announced Monday.
Mines (22-2, 15-1 RMAC) currently sits tied with current No. 9 Colorado Mesa (22-3, 15-1 RMAC) and No. 20 MSU Denver (21-3, 15-1 RMAC) for tops in the league standings with two matches left for each squad.
The No. 5 ranking this week eclipses the previous program record from last week when the squad was ranked sixth in the country. Mines has spent each of the last three seasons (2012, 2013, 2014) inside the AVCA Top 25.
Mines will face MSUD on Tuesday evening in Denver before closing the regular season with a 7 p.m. matchup at Colorado Christian (16-11, 8-8 RMAC) on Friday in Lakewood. MSU Denver will close with matchups against Mines on Tuesday and CCU on Saturday, and Colorado Mesa will close with matchups at Fort Lewis (7-17, 4-12 RMAC) and Adams State (14-11, 8-8 RMAC) on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
Mines will clinch at least a share of the 2014 RMAC Championship with two wins this week, regardless of Colorado Mesa's outcome. If both Mines and CMU go 2-0, the two squads will share the RMAC Championship and the Mavericks will host the RMAC Volleyball Tournament if they win their first-round matchup on Nov. 11 due to a tiebreaker.
The Orediggers are currently in the top 25 of several NCAA statistical rankings, including: second in assists per set (14.36), third in kills per set (15.14), ninth in team attacks (39.65), 14th in digs per set (18.89) and 21st in hitting percentage (0.247). The squad leads the RMAC in those same five categories as well.
Sophomore Alanna Winfield leads the team and sits second in the RMAC and 24th in the country with an average of 3.85 kills per set on 308 total kills. She went over the 300-kill plateau in Mines' 2-0 weekend against Chadron State and Black Hills State last weekend.
Sophomore Megan Peterson leads the squad, the RMAC and sits 18th in the nation with a .381 attack percentage to go along with 280 kills at an average of 3.68 kills per set. Senior Sarah Pekarek sits third on the team in kills (217) and digs (241).
Junior Danielle Johnson-Hazlewood leads the RMAC and sits second on the nation with an average of 12.75 assists per set while also posting 18 double-doubles on the year. She is second on the team and 14th in the RMAC with an average of 3.49 digs per set on the defensive end.
Sophomore Taryn Huber sits fourth in the RMAC and leads the team with an average of 4.95 digs per set on 381 total digs.
AVCA Division II Coaches Poll - November 3, 2014
Rank School (First-Place Votes) Total Points 2014 Record
1. Tampa (44) 1196 23-1
2. Minnesota-Duluth (4) 1156 25-1
3. Concordia-St. Paul 1098 23-3
4. BYU-Hawai'i 960 17-4
5. Colorado School of Mines 948 22-2
6. Southwest Minnesota State 894 19-7
7. Nebraska-Kearney 867 23-3
8. Wayne State (Neb.) 760 22-5
9. Colorado Mesa University 731 22-3
10. Wheeling Jesuit 724 29-3
11. NW Nazarene 679 21-2
12. Wingate 620 25-2
13. Washburn 577 21-5
14. Western Washington 536 17-6
15. Armstrong State 462 24-1
16. Florida Southern 448 19-5
17. Grand Valley State 440 19-4
18. Cal State San Bernardino 365 16-5
19. Central Missouri 356 18-8
20. Metro State 329 21-3
21. Palm Beach Atlantic 305 26-2
22. Ferris State 297 18-5
23. West Texas A&M 186 27-3
24. Truman 143 23-3
25. Alaska-Anchorage 129 19-4
Others Receiving Votes and listed on two or more ballots: Rockhurst 68; Central Washington 61; Central Oklahoma 47; Sonoma State 41; West Florida 26; Winona State 22; Dixie State-Utah 15; Missouri Western 15; Regis 13; Fresno Pacific 11; Augustana (SD) 10; Northern State 10; Point Loma 10; Findlay 9; Indianapolis 7;
Additional: 4 teams mentioned on only one ballot for a total of 29 combined points.
Dropped Out:
Next Poll: November 10, 2014
