How It Happened
#17 Colorado School of Mines (10-2, 4-0) put together its most complete game of the season as they dominated at Westminster (2-10, 0-4) in a 3-0 (25-8, 25-11, 25-23) sweep at the Behnken Field House in Salt Lake City.

The Orediggers wasted little time asserting their authority as they jumped out to a quick 8-3 before a Westminster timeout. That break did nothing to slow Mines down as they stretched its advantage out to 18-6 en route to a dominating 25-8 opening set win. Colorado School of Mines hit .593 as a team, and Ellie Monarch had seven kills in the frame.

Westminster came out much stronger in the second frame as they battled all the way to an 8-8 deadlock. The Orediggers reeled off five consecutive points (on four kills) to finally get some breathing room. From there they held the Griffins to only three points the rest of the way as Mines cruised to a 25-11 victory. 

The third and final set was much more competitive as the Griffins refused to go away easily. Tied at 17 apiece, back-to-back errors by Westminster gave Mines a lead they never relinquished for the 25-23 victory. WC appeared as they would fight back to tie it on multiple occasions, but three kills down the stretch by Alanna Winfield snuffed out any rally. 

Notables
-    Mines thoroughly dominated the game as they out-hit Westminster .318-to-.018. Posted more kills (46-26), had more assists (41-26), digs (54-43) and blocks (10.5-3).
-    The defense in particular was strong for Mines and that was led by Alanna Winfield's six and Madeline Behr's five blocks, respectively. Winfield also had a game-high 14 kills.
-    Taryn Huber put up her third straight 20-plus dig outing as she had a game-high 24 on the afternoon.
-    Ellie Monarch had nine kills on 11 attempts for an insane .818 hitting percentage.
-    Marina Hansen had 37 assists for her seventh straight game with at least 30 assists.

Up Next
Mines returns home next weekend as they host Black Hills State and S.D. Mines & Tech on Friday and Saturday, September 30-October 1.