STEPHENVILLE, Texas – The Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team advanced to the second round of the 2018 NCAA Division II Volleyball Tournament Thursday night with its 3-1 victory over MSU Denver inside Wisdom Gym on the campus of Tarleton State.
 
Mines used a balanced attack with four Orediggers recording double-digit kills. Abby Tiesman led all players with 15 kills while hitting .382. Taylor Hicken notched 13 kills while sisters Lindsey and Janice Jin added 11 and 10, respectively. First-team all-region Setter Drew Stokes racked up 51 assists and Elle Duis was a rock at libero with 24 digs. Stokes also had four total blocks in the win while Amanda Donais played the utility role with six kills, 10 digs, two blocks and a service ace.
 
Mines (24-5) ends the Roadrunners' season after MSU Denver (21-10) eliminated the Orediggers from the 2018 RMAC Tournament with a five-set victory in the semifinals. Mines racked up 61 kills in Thursday's triumph compared to MSU Denver's 46. That was the difference in a match where the Roadrunners outhit the Orediggers .208-.198.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
MSU Denver came out firing as the Roadrunners hit .500 to take a 7-1 lead over Mines in the opening set. The Orediggers called a time out and slowly, but surely clawed their way back into the game. Back-to-back kills from Tiesman and Lindsey Jin made it 13-16 and forced a MSU Denver timeout. Both teams traded rallies out of the timeout before the Roadrunners made it match point, 24-20. With their backs to the wall, the Orediggers seized momentum with a solo block from Janice Jin and a service ace from Donais to tie the match 24-24. MSU Denver was out of timeouts and could not stop Mines as they finished the comeback. Tiesman and Stokes teamed up for a block to record the final point, 27-25.
 
The second set was all Orediggers. Mines hit .350 as a team while limiting the Roadrunners to just .167 on the attack. There was just one tie in the game at 1-1 as the Orediggers jumped ahead 7-3 and never looked back. MSU Denver never got within three points of the lead after Mines' early run. Lindsey Jin capped the efficient performance with her seventh kill of the night on set point.
 
Game three saw the Roadrunners roar back into the match, fighting to avoid the sweep. MSU Denver jumped ahead 5-0 before Mines could blink. However, the Orediggers battled back to tie the score 9-9 thanks to a Roadrunner error. Lindsey Jin tied the game again at 15-15 and 16-16. However, MSU Denver would never trail, using four total blocks in the set to avoid the sweep with a 25-20 win.
 
The final game of the night turned into a barn-burner as both teams hit over .300 through the first 25 points. Consecutive kills from Megan Neil and Tiesman forced a MSU Denver timeout with Mines leading 14-11. The Roadrunners had an effective chat and clawed back to tie the set 16-16. However, Hannah Martin's service ace and two more kills from Tiesman put MSUD right back in a three-point hole. Lindsey Jin and Hicken helped the Orediggers maintain their lead and Donais knocked down the final kill in the 25-21, match-clinching victory.
 
NOTABLES
- The Orediggers are now 1-0 against MSU Denver in the NCAA Tournament.
- Mines is 7-4 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
- Thursday marks the Orediggers' fourth consecutive trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
- Mines improved to 11-14 against MSU Denver with Jamie Magalei as head coach of the Orediggers.
- The Orediggers haven't dropped a first-round match since 2014.
- Stokes' 51 assists put the freshman alone at #4 on Mines' single-season assists list.
- Elle Duis' 24 digs move her up to #7 on the Orediggers' single-season digs chart.
- Coach Magalei is 256-86 in 11 seasons at Mines.
- Magalei owns a career record of 7-9 in the NCAA Tournament.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines faces the #1 seed and host Tarleton State Friday at 7:30 p.m. (CT) inside Wisdom Gym on the campus of TSU. Live stats and video of the match will be available at www.MinesAthletics.com.
 
Keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all season long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.