Mines (12-3, 5-2 RMAC) at Westminster (3-12, 0-7 RMAC) – Friday, 7 p.m. [Live Stats] [Live Video]
Mines (12-3, 5-2 RMAC) at Dixie State (10-5, 5-2 RMAC) – Saturday, 3 p.m.  [Live Stats] [Live Video]
 

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ON THE RMAC NETWORK
Every Mines home game and all RMAC contests can be seen live and for free on the RMAC Network at minesathletics.com/tv. The RMAC Network can also be found on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, and Android TV devices by going to the app store and searching "RMAC".
 
WESTWARD BOUND
The Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team is back on the road this weekend, flying out to Utah for matches at Westminster and Dixie State. Still feeling the sting of a five-set loss to South Dakota Mines, the Orediggers will look to get back on the winning track against a team still seeking its first win in conference play and another tied with Mines in the RMAC standings. Two wins helps the Orediggers strengthen a foothold in the top three in the league. However, anything less and Mines could drop out of the top eight and the projected RMAC Tournament field.
 
LOOKING BACK
The week that was provided a mix of emotions for the Orediggers and their fans. On Friday, Mines defeated Black Hills State in four sets inside Lockridge arena and extended its winning streak to four. Then, the Orediggers suffered a heartbreaking loss to South Dakota Mines in five sets on Saturday evening. Despite the weekend split, Mines saw multiple outstanding individual performances. Drew Stokes posted back-to-back double-doubles and finished with 115 assists, 23 digs, nine kills and two service aces. Abby Tiesman and Amanda Donais proved lights out on offense thanks to 65 total kills and a combined hitting percentage over .400. Elle Duis's 36 digs proved impressive as well.
 
SCOUTING WESTMINSTER
Westminster welcomes Mines to Salt Lake City with just three wins overall and zero victories in conference action. However, the Griffins have only played at home three times in 2019. Westminster's three marks in the win column include a sweep of the University of the Southwest, a four-set victory over Texas A&M-International and another sweep courtesy of Montana Western. That being said, the Griffins roll into the weekend on a three-match skid. Individually, Audrey Green leads WC with 179 kills. Aggie Roese-Olsen is tops at setter thanks to 262 assists. Defensively it's Hannah Stearman with 236 digs and Sydnee Simmons with 26 total blocks. As a team, Westminster is #15 in the nation in digs per set.
 
FROM PARSONS TO GRIFFINS
Westminster College athletics teams were originally nicknamed the Parsons as an ode to the school's religious (Presbyterian) roots. However, in 1979, the institution went from spiritual to mythical as it became known athletically as the Griffins. Also spelled griffon or gryphon, the school's mascot is a legendary creature featuring the body, tail and back legs of a lion while also sporting the head and wings of an eagle. It is not a real animal and seems appropriate for the school as Westminster College sports teams became mythical in 1967-68 with financial crisis forcing the discontinuation of intercollegiate athletics. The program experienced rebirth starting in the 1990's and eventually joined NCAA Division II and the RMAC in 2015-16.
 
BEHNKEN FIELD HOUSE
The home for Westminster College basketball and volleyball is Behnken Field House which is housed in the Dolores Dore Eccles Health, Wellness and Athletic Center. Our best shot at an acronym would be DDEHWAC which we're guessing is pronounced "Day-wack". Either way, the following description of the facility comes from www.westminstergriffins.com. The three-story, 84,500-square-foot facility, completed in 2006, houses Griffins Athletics and includes a swimming pool, full complement of fitness equipment, a weight room and exercise studio, and a technically challenging, 46-foot climbing wall. Above a field house that holds 1,200 spectators is a suspended running track with a high-tech surface and corner windows with views. The field house includes an athletic training room, locker rooms, team meeting rooms, coaches offices, and equipment storage space for intercollegiate athletics, including men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, men's and women's soccer, and women's volleyball.
 
SCOUTING DIXIE STATE
With an overall record of 10-5 while sitting 5-2 in the RMAC, Dixie State will host UCCS on Friday night before facing Mines on Saturday afternoon. Most recently, DSU swept Westminster in a mid-week showdown after taking down Fort Lewis in four sets last Saturday. However, a notable loss on Dixie State's record is a four-set decision at Adams State which came last Friday. To'a Faleao tops the offense by way of 121 kills. Jordyn Nelson boasts a team-best 350 assists at setter. Mykenna Nelson touts 255 digs and Lauren Gammell enters the weekend with a stunning 69 blocks on the year. Gammell's numbers make DSU the #3 team in DII in blocks per set and #15 in total blocks. Individually, Gammell ranks #13 in blocks per set and #18 in total blocks. Megan Treanor did record the ever-elusive triple-double thanks to 14 kills, 18 assists and 11 digs against Southwestern Oklahoma State.
 
TRAILBLAZERS, REBELS AND BISON – OH MY!
The nickname Trailblazers is relatively new for Dixie State. Originally known as the Rebels, DSU attempted to adopt the nickname Red Storm in 2009 in an effort to distance itself from Deep South associations. The change was unsuccessful and the University made the change to Trailblazers in 2016. The name is defined as, "a person who makes a new track through wild country," while the bison image is a carryover from the Red Storm era and is claimed as, "an authentic and worthy nod to southwestern Utah's hardscrabble history. The bison's name is Brooks which is a reference to the school's first student, Samuel Brooks. And now you know.
 
BURNS ARENA
Burns Arena is the home of Dixie State basketball and volleyball. The Trailblazers' website touts it as one of the finest collegiate arenas in the nation at the NCAA Division II level. Built in 1985, games were first played in the building in 1986. The facility is named for M. Anthony Burns, a Dixie State alum and former president/CEO of Ryder Systems. There are 4,779 permanent seats spread across 14 seating sections. According to photos, all of those seats appear to be of the seat-back variety. Aesthetically, the court features Dixie State's red around the sidelines with a giant letter "D" at center court with a buffalo head overlapping.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Friday is the fifth-ever meeting between Mines and Westminster. Saturday marks the second-ever matchup between Dixie State and the Orediggers. Mines boasts an all-time mark of 5-0 versus the two programs. Last season, the Orediggers swept WC inside Lockridge Arena thanks to a team hitting percentage of .494 and 16 combined kills from Abby Tiesman and Janice Jin. Delaney Duis and Drew Stokes combined for 38 assists while Tiesman also added six total blocks to compliment Elle Duis's 14 digs. That sweep followed a five-set thriller against Dixie State which Mines won. Tiesman and Jin tossed down 19 kills apiece. Stokes dealt 63 assists and Elle Duis came away with 22 digs. Safe to say, Saturday's showdown in St. George should not disappoint.
 
THEY GONE
Many fans around the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and Oredigger nation have asked, "What's going on with Dixie State?" So, here are the facts. The Trailblazers entered the RMAC as full members in the 2018-19 season – last year. The 2019-20 season marks DSU's last year as a member of the conference and as a NCAA Division II institution. As of 2020, Dixie State will move to NCAA Division I as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). In summary, the Trailblazers have gone from junior college to NCAA Division I in just 14 years.
 
RMAC SETTER OF THE WEEK
Drew Stokes is up to four RMAC Setter of the Week honors this season thanks to her most recent award on Monday. In less than two years at Mines, Stokes has been named the RMAC Setter of the Week nine times. The latest accolade comes after a seven-day stretch featuring 164 assists, 26 digs, 11 kills, three service aces, two blocks and back-to-back double-doubles. Stokes started the week leading all players with 49 assists in the Orediggers' sweep of UCCS. The sophomore continued on Friday with a 53-assist, 10-dig double-double on the way to a four-set win over Black Hills State. She had three kills on three attempts for a 1.000 hitting percentage in that match. Stokes capped her week by posting a 62-assist, 13-dig double-double against South Dakota Mines. Her third double-double of the season. The Murphysboro, Ill., native officially surpassed 2,000 assists for her career and ranks #1 in the RMAC and the nation in assists per set.
 
RMAC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Tiesman joined Stokes with a weekly award of her own. The senior's RMAC Offensive Player of the Week award is her second of the season and fifth of her career. She finished her week with 56 kills at a clip of 4.67 kills per set and an overall hitting percentage of .402. Tiesman was the top hitter on the floor in both the Orediggers' wins, knocking down 18 kills and hitting .452 against UCCS while racking up 23 kills and hitting .439 against Black Hills State. For good measure, Tiesman also added four service aces, 14 blocks and 12 digs over three matches. She now ranks #1 in the RMAC in hitting percentage, total points and points per set. Nationally, Tiesman is #3 in NCAA Division II in points per set and #6 in hitting percentage.
 
TOPS IN THE NATION
Mines ranks #1 in all of NCAA Division II in assists per set. Drew Stokes is also ranked #1 in the nation in assists per set. The Orediggers are also #2 in kills per set and #4 in hitting percentage. Stokes is #7 in total assists while Abby Tiesman ranks #3 in points per set and #5 in hitting percentage. Mines also leads the RMAC in all of the categories just mentioned.
 
FUN COACH FACTS
The spotlight is back on Heather Roberts. For those not in the know, she is Mines' assistant coach. Two weeks ago, it was revealed that Roberts ranks #1 and #2 in program history for assists per set in a single season in addition to a few all-conference honors. What fans might not know is that Roberts was quite the serving fiend. So successful that she ranks #2 in single-season service aces and in all-time service aces for the Owls. As a freshman in 2001, Roberts racked up 77 service aces and came just three shy of matching the single-season record that still stands from 1988. No player has come within 10 service aces of Roberts' mark since 2007. In her career, Roberts accumulated 196 service aces. As previously stated, that also ranks #2 in program history and is one shy of the all-time record that dates back to 1984-85. Similar to her single-season performance, no player has even come close since Roberts' tenure in Missouri. The #3 all-time mark is a tie at 161 career service aces and was most recently reached in 2015. And now you know.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Mines returns home Oct. 18-19 to celebrate Homecoming 2019 with matches against CSU-Pueblo and New Mexico Highlands inside historic Volk Gym. Live stats and video will be available at MinesAthletics.com.