SAN ANGELO, Texas – A monster effort from LaRose Currie sends #20 Colorado School of Mines into the semifinals of the South Central Region Tournament as they swept Arkansas-Fort Smith 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-20) in the opening round on Thursday, December 1 at the Junell Center on the campus of Angelo State.

LaRose Currie led Mines with a double-double of 13 kills and a career-high 30 digs as she helped the Oreiggers hold UAFS to .182 hitting for the match. Currie led an Orediggers' defense that had four players with 10 digs or more.

Joining Currie on that stellar defense was Taryn Huber who had 20 digs which allowed her to pass Hannah Margheim's (2010-13) school record of 1,905 career digs to become the program's new record bearer.  Huber now has 1,909 career digs and counting.

Through the first part of the opening set, the Orediggers and Lady Lions traded point-for-point all the way to a 10-10 tie. Mines then broke that tie by tallying three consecutive points – with kills from Janice Jin and Ellie Monarch – to finally get some breathing room. 

Now leading 18-16, Mines got three straight kills from Madeline Behr, Alanna Winfield and Jin to pull away for good. It was all Orediggers from there as they hit .333 for the frame to win, 25-18.

After initially trailing 7-4, Mines fought back to tie the game, but had a really hard time getting a lead against Arkansas-Fort Smith in set #2. Finally, tied at 15, the Orediggers broke through after back-to-back kills from LaRose Currie and Ellie Monarch to force a UAFS timeout. 

Mines then looked as though they were going to run away with the frame when they went up 21-18, but the Lady Lions came roaring back and took the lead at 22-21. UAFS had momentum at their backs, but back-to-back errors gave the Orediggers life. 

Madeline Behr and Alanna Winfield took advantage and brought the set home for Mines, 25-23. LaRose Currie was sensational in game #2 as she drilled eight kills in the frame.

The third set opened up much like the first one as the two teams battled tit-for-tat all the way to a 12-12 deadlock. It was then that the Orediggers went on an 11-5 run to pull away for good, and take set and match, 25-20. 

Notables
-    For the program's juniors and seniors, today's victory was a sweet one as UAFS had eliminated Mines in five sets in the opening round of the 2014 South Central Region Tournament.
-    The victory also advances to the Orediggers to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for a second straight year, and gives the program 25 wins or more for a fifth consecutive season.
-    While Currie and Huber got the much deserved headlines of the Mines defense, Hailey Babcock (15) and Marina Hansen (10) also had double-digit digs.
-    Marina Hansen had the team's second double-double as she dished out 52 assists in the sweep. 
-    Mines hit .263 as a team as four Orediggers reached double-digit kills. Currie had a game-high 13 kills with Alanna Winfield close behind her with 12. The middle blocking duo of Madeline Behr and Ellie Monarch each had 10 kills. Monarch also hit a team-best .435 for the match.

Up Next
Mines will now waits to see who they play in tomorrow's semifinals at 6:30 p.m. The Orediggers will play either top-seed and host Angelo State or Texas A&M-Kingsville.