How It Happened
Playing against an Adams State squad that was having the game of its season, the #23 Colorado School of Mines rallied from a 2-1 deficit to pull out a 3-2 (28-26, 18-25, 18-25, 25-18, 15-11) victory in a RMAC Tournament Quarterfinal match on Tuesday, November 15 at Lockridge Arena.
Not only were the Orediggers (22-6) down 2-1 in the match, but they were trailing 14-8 in the fourth set, and it appeared the loss was all but inevitable. Mines wouldn't surrender though as they steadied the ship by going on a decisive 13-2 run, after trailing 16-12, to push the match into a fifth set.
Then, in the final set, Mines once again found itself behind, 8-6. The Orediggers once again fought back and took the lead for good at 10-9 before ultimately taking the frame and match, 15-11.
Janice Jin in set #4 and
Alanna Winfield in set #5 were the catalysts in each comeback as they finished with 17 and 12 kills, respectively.
The Orediggers started out the game strong as they took the opening set 28-26 by hitting .350 in the frame, but even in that set they were on the brink of losing. Down 24-23, Mines stayed alive on an attacking error by ASU. Once in tiebreakers, the Orediggers finally broke through at 26-26 with a double-block from Jin and
Madeline Behr followed by a kill from Winfield.
Sets #2 and #3 were simply ones to forget as the Orediggers hit 0.64 and .175 in the respective frames while the Grizzlies caught fire and conversely hit .265 and .359. Mines looked as bad as they had all season in those sets which continued into the fourth set before incredibly righting the proverbial ship.
Notables
- While the Orediggers went through large stretches of struggling to hit,
Janice Jin was a constant throughout as she posted a team-high 17 kills while hitting. 256. She also had six digs and three block assists.
- Jin led a quintet of Mines players in double-digs kills with
Ellie Monarch at 13,
Alanna Winfield with 12,
LaRose Currie with 11 and
Madeline Behr at 10.
- Monarch, Winfield and Behr also had four blocks each with Winfield and Behr each supplying two solo blocks.
- The Orediggers also had four players with double-digit digs with RMAC Defensive Player of the Year
Taryn Huber with a match-high 27.
LaRose Currie had 15 to give her a double-double while
Hailey Babcock and
Marina Hansen each had 12.
- Hansen also had a double-double as she posted 52 assists to go along with her 12 digs.
- In the defeat, Adams State's Mallory Grimsrud had 22 kills and four blocks.
Up Next
Mines will now take on #3 seed UCCS this Friday, November 18 at 5 p.m. in the semifinals of the RMAC Tournament which will be hosted at MSU Denver. The Orediggers swept the Mountain Lions in their only other encounter this season back on October 22.
