#23 Mines (11-2, 4-1 RMAC) vs. Black Hills State (5-7, 3-1 RMAC) – Friday, 7 p.m. [Live Stats] [Live Video]
#23 Mines (11-2, 4-1 RMAC) vs. South Dakota Mines (6-7, 2-2 RMAC) – Saturday, 7 p.m.  [Live Stats] [Live Video]
 

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GAME DAY INFO
New in 2019, fans can purchase digital tickets online in advance via Mines' new ticketing portal, or buy them at the gate on game day. Ticket pricing remains the same as 2018 at $10 for adults and $5 for seniors, military, and children. Mines students, faculty, and staff are free with their Blaster Card. No pets (except service animals) are permitted inside Lockridge Arena.
 
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".
 
FREE CHICK-FIL-A
That's right, Friday's match against Black Hills State will feature FREE Chick-Fil-A Chicken Sandwiches, cookies and lemonade for the first 75 students. The Chick-Fil-A Cow will also be in attendance. Chick-Fil-A is a proud restaurant partner of Mines Athletics with the closest location for Orediggers fans located near Colorado Mills Mall at 14730 W Colfax Ave., Lakewood, Colo., 80401.
 
THE WEEKEND AHEAD
The Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team just got done playing three matches in a five-day span. However, this weekend, that will turn into five matches in eight days as the Orediggers welcome Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines to Lockridge Arena. Friday's match is slated for a 7 p.m. start while Saturday's showdown gets under way at 5 p.m. The two contests are the only home events across the entire department, marking a perfect opportunity for all of Mines Nation to come out and get loud.
 
CATCHING UP
Over the week, Mines has played three matches and won them all in straight sets. The Orediggers swept past Fort Lewis on Friday night in Durango. They did the same to Adams State in Alamosa. Then, on Tuesday, Mines capped the nine-set run with a 3-0 victory at home against UCCS. The trio of victories moved the Orediggers into a tie for second place in the RMAC standings. Individually, Abby Tiesman led the team on 40 kills and a .458 hitting percentage. Drew Stokes racked up 124 assists at a clip of 13.78 assists per set and Elle Duis collected 42 digs at a pace of 4.67 digs per set. Additionally, Stokes netted five service aces and April Jergensen had four.
 
SCOUTING BLACK HILLS STATE
Black Hills State is 5-7 overall and 3-1 in the RMAC. The Yellow Jackets, like Mines, also boast an active three-match winning streak thanks to a 3-2 win at Westminster followed by a 3-1 win at home against CSU-Pueblo and a 3-2 win at home against New Mexico Highlands. Madison Hoopman leads BHSU's offense courtesy of 120 kills, but only converts at a clip of .133 on the attack. In what appears to be some form of a 6-2 offense, both Laurel Lech and Tess Thomas handle the setting duties to the tune of 420 assists. Peyton Bodemann's 16 service aces are tops on the team along with her 35 total blocks. Haedyn Rhoades anchors the back row, touting 213 digs and 4.53 digs per set. Notably, Lech recorded a 10-kill, 31 assist, 10-dig triple-double last Friday against CSU-Pueblo.
 
KNOW YOUR VESPULA
Black Hills State University claims the Yellow Jacket as the nickname for its athletics teams. Sometimes mistakenly called bees, yellow jackets are actually wasps of the genera (genus plural) Vespula and Dolichovespula. Specifically, yellow jackets are referred to as social wasps meaning they form colonies, but nest above ground. While bees are only capable of stinging once, wasps can sting repeatedly and painfully. Yellow Jacket colonies/nests can reach sizes up to 4,000-5,000 workers. Their diet consists of fruits, nectar and tree sap. While the two-word spelling has become popular over time, the proper entomological spelling is as a single word, yellowjacket.
 
SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA MINES
South Dakota Mines enters the weekend 6-7 overall and 2-2 in conference play. The engineers of the north are slated to face UCCS on Friday in Colorado Springs before traveling to Golden on Saturday. Most recently, SDSMIT swept New Mexico Highlands and fell to CSU-Pueblo in four sets. Dana Thompson is the Hardrockers' player to watch on offense. With 194 kills on 564 attempts at a clip of .215, she ranks #7 in the nation in attacks per set, #9 in total kills, #16 in total attacks, #20 in kills per set and #25 in points per set. Again, that's across all of NCAA Division II. Shyann Bastian coordinates the offense to the tune of 376 assists on the season. Anna Thomas boasts a team-best 18 service aces and 282 digs. Jacey Koethe leads all Hardrockers with 45 total blocks. As a team, South Dakota Mines is #20 in the nation in team attacks per set.
 
LONGHAIRS TO HARDROCKERS
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology boasts Hardrockers as its nickname which refers to a miner who specializes in the extraction of harder minerals as opposed to coal or softer sediment. Grubby the Miner is their mascot. However, the athletic teams were originally named the Longhairs when the first football team formed in 1895. Despite a variety of connotations and denotations, "longhair" is defined by Dictionary.com as "an intellectual" or, "a person, often gifted, who is very interested in or devoted to the arts". The school eventually switched to the Hardrockers and also transitioned to NCAA Division II in 2013 and accepted an invitation to the RMAC in 2014.
 
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
Colorado School of Mines has played Black Hills State 10 times and South Dakota Mines five times since 2012. The Orediggers are combined 15-0 against the two opponents and have only dropped one set to SDSMT during that span. In the series against BHSU, Mines has recorded eight sweeps and two four-set affairs. The Yellow Jackets have only won two sets against the Orediggers since 2014.
 
RMAC SETTER OF THE WEEK
That's right. Drew Stokes did it again. She was named the RMAC Setter of the Week on Monday for the third time this season and eighth time in her career. The Murphysboro, Ill., native surpassed 500 assists for the season over the weekend as Mines won both its matches in straight sets. She tossed up 41 assists at Fort Lewis and 34 more at Adams State to strengthen her hold as the #1 setter in the RMAC with 504 assists at a clip of 12.9 assists per set this season. Stokes is also the #1 setter in the nation in assists per set. The sophomore bolstered her weekend resume with four service aces in a single match at Adams State. For good measure, Stokes also added five kills, hit .400 on the attack and knocked down three total blocks. Mines has now accounted for four of the 12 possible RMAC weekly awards in the sport of volleyball, maintaining its clip of 33% on the year.
 
CONFERENCE STANDINGS
Speaking of Mines' conference ranking, here is the league rundown after one weekend of play. According to the RMAC's website, Regis is #1 thanks to an unblemished mark of 3-0 in conference play. Chadron State, Dixie State and MSU Denver are all tied for #2 at 2-0. Colorado Mesa and Western are 2-1 in a tie for #5. The Orediggers find themselves in a five-way tie for #7 at 1-1 which muddies the waters on projecting an early RMAC Tournament field. Fort Lewis, Adams State, Westminster, New Mexico Highlands and Colorado Christian all have yet to win a match in league play.
 
NATIONAL STAT RANKINGS
Drew Stokes is #1 in the nation in assists per set. Abby Tiesman is #3 in the nation in points per set and #5 in hitting percentage. An interesting note as that three of the top five in hitting percentage hail from the South Central Region. As a team, Mines is #1 in the nation in assists per set and #2 in kills per set. The Orediggers also boast NCAA Division II's #6-ranked hitting percentage.
 
FUN COACH FACTS
In its third week of existence, this edition of "Fun Coach Facts" turns its focus back to the Orediggers' head coach, Jamie Magalei. Two weeks ago, we learned that coach Magalei owns North Dakota's all-time record for assists in a four-set match. However, Magalei was quite the defensive threat as well. She is one of just 20 Fighting Hawks (formerly Fighting Sioux) to record more than 1,000 digs in her career. Magalei finished her collegiate days with 1,086 digs which ranks #17 in program history. With 270 volleyball alums listed in the North Dakota record book and only 20 in the 1,000-digs club, that puts Magalei in the program's top-seven percent of all players ever in the digs category. A large part of her 1,000 digs came in 2013 as she led the team with 432 on the season. And now you know.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Mines returned to the national rankings last week in a tie for #25 and rose to a tie for #23 this week in the AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll. It's the 91st time in program history that Mines has appeared in the national polls. The rise comes after the Orediggers swept Fort Lewis and Adams State. Other notable teams in the top 25 include Regis which moved from #12 to #17 after a four-set loss to MSU Denver. South Central Region foes Tarleton State (#14) and Texas A&M-Commerce (#21) also remain nestled comfortably on the national list. Additionally, Angelo State comes in the equivalent of #26 with 85 votes and MSU Denver sits #29 thanks to 46 votes.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
After hosting the South Dakota Schools, Mines makes the journey to Utah for matches at Westminster and Dixie State on Oct. 11 and 12. Live stats and video will be available at MinesAthletics.com.