RMAC Tournament QF – Mines (22-4) vs. Fort Lewis (9-13) – Tuesday, 7 p.m. [Live Stats] [Live Video]
RMAC Tournament SF – Friday, 5 p.m. & 7 p.m. (if advancing, at Mines)
RMAC Tournament Final – Saturday, time TBA (if advancing, at Mines)
 
THE RMAC TOURNAMENT [Bracket]
The Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team opens its 11th consecutive RMAC Tournament Tuesday, hosting Fort Lewis inside Lockridge Arena in the quarterfinal round. Mines claimed the #1 seed in the tournament thanks to a shared regular-season title and head-to-head tiebreakers against Dixie State. The Skyhawks earned the final berth in the conference tournament after winning five of their last seven matches, including a win over Colorado Mesa. Elsewhere, #4 MSU Denver hosts #5 Regis. On the other side of the bracket, #2 Dixie State hosts #7 UCCS while #3 Colorado Mesa hosts #6 Colorado Christian. A win Tuesday for the Orediggers brings the semifinal and final matches to Golden Nov. 9 and 10.
 
REGULAR-SEASON FINALE REVIEW
Mines played just one match on the final weekend of the regular season as the Orediggers defeated UCCS in four sets inside Lockridge Arena. The home team overcame a sluggish start and a first-set loss to run off three straight wins to clinch the match and a share of the RMAC regular-season crown. Taylor Hicken dominated at the net, leading all players with 18 kills and seven total blocks while hitting .469. Drew Stokes notched her fifth double-double of the season with 51 assists and 10 digs while adding six kills, three service aces and two blocks. Elle Duis anchored the defense with 19 digs and added two service aces of her own.
 
SCOUTING FORT LEWIS
Fort Lewis closed its regular season 9-13 overall and 9-9 in RMAC play, tied for eighth with Adams State. The Skyhawks took the #8 seed on tiebreakers and roll into Golden looking to play the spoiler. FLC's offense is led by Haley Christiansen's 230 kills. However, freshman Tye Wedhorn boasts the #34 hitting percentage in the country, swinging .366 with 150 kills on the year. Kendra Swackenberg handles the setting duties with 586 assists in the regular season. Megan Graefe's 333 digs anchor the defense. Fort Lewis' greatest strength may be quantity over quality as they rank #91 in the country in attacks per set.
 
MAN-MADE BIRDS
When Mines and Fort Lewis met in the regular season, fans learned FLC's Skyhawk mascot is not actually an animal, but a name attached to aircrafts or slang for someone who doesn't allow fun or is a stick in the mud. Since airplanes are considered man-made birds, we'll focus on that for the postseason. When googling "What's a Skyhawk," searchers will find that the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is the top results. It's a single-seat, subsonic, carrier-capable attack craft developed for the United States Navy and Marine Corps in the early 1950's. With a maximum takeoff weight of 24,500 pounds, it's considered a relatively lightweight aircraft. Needless to say, no real bird that weights over 24,000 is flying anywhere. The jet has a top speed of more than 670 miles per hour and supports a variety of missiles, bombs and other munitions. In summary, a Skyhawk is a "light", fast, versatile, man-made bird. And now you know.
 
LOCKRIDGE ARENA
Fondly referred to as "The Lock", Mines' home court for volleyball, men's basketball and women's basketball features seating for 3,000 at Oredigger home athletics events. The venue has also twice hosted the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball South Central Regional Tournament. Additionally, Lockridge Arena hosts numerous major campus events and has been graced by the presence of Barack Obama, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye and many others.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Mines and Fort Lewis faced off earlier this season on Sept. 15. The Orediggers swept past the Skyhawks for its third straight sweep at the time. Abby Tiesman led all players with 13 kills and freshman Hannah Martin broke out with 12 kills. Drew Stokes put up 44 assists over the three sets and Tiesman added nine total blocks. Since 2008, Mines is 15-0 against Fort Lewis. The Orediggers haven't dropped a set to the Skyhawks since 2009 with 12 straight sweeps of their opponent to the south and west.
 
RMAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY – THE MAGALEI, ROBERTS ERA
Orediggers' head coach Jamie Magalei took the job in 2008 and brought Heather Roberts as her assistant coach. Since their arrival, Mines has won six RMAC regular-season titles, advanced to 11 consecutive RMAC Tournaments and won two of them. Under Magalei and Roberts, Mines is 13-8 in the conference postseason. However, since 2015, the Orediggers are 7-1 in the league tournament. Magalei and Roberts have guided Mines to one #6 seed, one #5 seed, one #4 seed, one #3 seed, three #2 seeds and four #1 seeds. The Orediggers won their first RMAC Tournament as a #1 seed in 2015. Tuesday marks only the second time a Magalei-led team has met Fort Lewis in the postseason. The Orediggers and Skyhawks last met in the RMAC Tournament in 2013 in the quarterfinal. As the #1 seed, Mines swept Fort Lewis before falling to Adams State, 3-1 in the semifinal.
 
NCAA REGIONAL RANKINGS
The next NCAA Regional Rankings will not be released until after the Orediggers' quartfinal match. In the last regional polls, Mines maintained its spot at #3. Tarleton State and Texas A&M-Commerce also held on to their spots at #1 and #2, respectively. The Orediggers continue to receive votes in the AVCA National Poll, but it's the NCAA Regional Rankings that determine which teams will advance to the NCAA postseason. The top eight teams in the final regional poll will advance to the NCAA South Central Regional tournament, hosted by the #1 seed. If the season ended today, Tarleton State would be hosting the first and second rounds with Mines facing off against sixth-seeded Angelo State of the Lone Star Conference.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Three Orediggers have combined to produce 12 double-doubles this season. Leading the way is true freshman Amanda Donais with six double-doubles through 25 matches. Donais' last double-double came Oct. 13 against Regis inside Lockridge Arena with 11 kills and 13 digs. Next on the list is another true freshman in Drew Stokes. The setter has five double-doubles this season and last accomplished the feat in the regular-season finale against UCCS. Junior middle blocker Abby Tiesman also has a double-double this season thanks to her 13-kill, 12-dig performance against Cal St. East Bay in the 2018 Oredigger Volleyball Classic.
 
LEADING THE RMAC
Mines leads the conference in more than just the standings. As a team, the Orediggers are #1 in the league in hitting percentage, assists per set and kills per set. Individually, Drew Stokes is #1 in assists per set and #2 in total assists. Abby Tiesman is third in the league in kills per set but leads the conference in solo blocks. Amanda Donais leads the conference in service-aces per set.
 
DEPARTMENT-WIDE SUCCESS
As a department, Colorado School of Mines Athletics has found nearly unprecedented of success this fall. Mines' fall teams are a combined 68-7-2 in head-to-head play. Those same programs are 50-3-1 in RMAC action. The Orediggers' opposition has featured eight nationally-ranked opponents. To date, the Orediggers have captured a total of five RMAC crowns including men's and women's soccer sweeping the regular-season and tournament titles with volleyball claiming its regular-season championship. None of this includes Mines' cross country teams that have won two of its four races this season, including the Rock Pre-Nationals in Pittsburgh. The Oredigger men are #2 in the country and the women rank #5.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
If Mines wins Tuesday night, it will host the semifinal and final matches of the RMAC Tournament Friday and Saturday inside Lockridge Arena. The Orediggers potential semifinal opponent will be the winner of the quarterfinal match between MSU Denver and Regis. Live stats and video of the matches 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.