ST. GEORGE, Utah – The Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team dropped a five-set decision to Dixie State on Saturday afternoon inside the DSU Student Activities Center.  
 
It marks Mines' second five-set heartbreaker in the span of three matches despite some impressive performances. Abby Tiesman came one block shy of a triple-double and still got the double-double. She led all players with 23 kills and did the same with nine total bocks while adding 11 digs. Drew Stokes joined the double-double party courtesy of 46 assists and 12 digs. She also added three blocks and two kills. Lindsey Jin made her way into double-digit kills, posting 10 on the day and turned in three service aces. Elle Duis capped it all off by leading all players with 23 digs in addition to five assists and two service aces.
 
As a team, the Orediggers (13-4, 6-3 RMAC) were limited to a hitting percentage of .179 but still out-blocked Dixie State (12-5, 7-2 RMAC), putting down four solo blocks and 14 block assists for a total of 11 in the match. On the other side, the Trailblazers had no solo blocks and finished the match with nine total stops. With the win, DSU takes sole possession of third place in the RMAC standings. Mines takes the loss and falls into a tie for fourth in the conference rankings. It should also be noted that the previous league leader MSU Denver suffered its first RMAC loss of the season, falling to South Dakota Mines in four sets on Saturday.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
As the visitors in balmy St. George, Utah, where the high temperature nearly reached 80 degrees on Saturday, Mines jumped out to a fast start off the hand of Tiesman and behind the defense of Elle Duis. In the opening set, Tiesman pounded out seven kills on 13 attempts and Elle Duis racked up 10 digs to give the Orediggers a 25-21 win and the 1-0 lead. However, Dixie State adjusted its defense and used four blocks over the next two frames for wins of 25-15 and 25-23, while holding Mines to .143 and .211 on the attack.
 
Trailing 2-1 in the match and their backs against the wall, the Orediggers started the fourth game by going point-for-point with the Trailblazers. Mines would eventually pull away for the 25-20 win courtesy of four kills from Jin and four digs each from Elle Duis, Sokes and Tiesman. But it was five total blocks in the fourth set that truly made the difference and only allowed the home team to hit .095. Unfortunately for the visitors, that momentum would not carry Mines through the fifth set as the Trailblazers clinched the win, 15-11.
 
NOTABLES
- Saturday's matched evened the all-time series between Mines and Dixie State at 1-1 after the two teams went five sets in their first-ever meeting last season inside Lockridge Arena.
- Stokes now has four consecutive double-doubles with five on the year and 12 in her career.
- Tiesman's double-double at Dixie State marked her second of the season and third of her career. Her 23 kills came one short of matching her career high.
- Additionally, Tiesman's 49 attempts on Saturday afternoon are the most the senior has ever had in a single match.
- Jin has now recorded double-digit kills in three straight matches while Tiesman has 14 consecutive outings with double-digit kills.
- Also worth mentioning is Tiesman's nine blocks on the Trailblazers match her career best performance. She is up to 69 blocks on the season.
- Elle Duis has put up 20-plus digs in four of her last five matches, averaging 5.2 digs per set over that span.
- Megan Neil surpassed 100 career digs on Saturday afternoon thanks to two against DSU.
- Stokes now ranks #6 all-time at Mines thanks to 2,106 career assists. She is also over 300 digs for her career.
- Tiesman surpassed 300 career blocks after her nine-spot at Dixie State.
- The Orediggers are now 104-14 in RMAC play dating back to 2012.
- Head coach Jamie Magalei is 269-91 in 12 seasons at Mines.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Orediggers return to Golden for Homecoming 2019 next Friday and Saturday, hosting CSU-Pueblo and New Mexico Highlands inside historic Volk Gym. 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. Fans can also follow Mines Volleyball on Twitter using the handle @MinesVolleyball.