LAKEWOOD, Colo. – Oredigger senior Taylor Hicken led the #6 Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team to a 3-0 win against Colorado Christian on Friday night inside the CCU Event Center.
 
Hicken's resume featured 14 kills on 21 attempts while hitting .667 with six service aces and two blocks. Those numbers led all players in the match who had more than one attempt on offense. Rose Stuewe and Lindsey Jin enhanced Mines' attack with eight kills apiece. Floor captain Drew Stokes dished out 40 assists and added two aces of her own. Elle Duis was once again stalwart in the back row, producing 13 digs in three sets. Also notable was Julia Eiken who put together seven kills and four blocks in the victory.
 
With the win, the Orediggers (16-1, 9-0 RMAC) push their winning streak to 13 straight victories. Mines also remains tied for first in the RMAC standings with #2-ranked MSU Denver. It marks the third loss in the last four matches for Colorado Christian (7-10, 4-5 RMAC). While defense at the net and the service game proved relatively level, the Orediggers' #1-ranked hitting was too much as they converted at a clip of .348 for 43 kills compared to 27 for the Cougars. Mines' defense limited CCU to .139 on the attack.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Mines' general student body began their fall break on Friday afternoon. Meanwhile, the Oredigger volleyball team strode into the CCU Event Center and continued with business as usual. The hot hands of Hicken and Stuewe guided the visitors to a 25-22, set-one win behind nine combined kills on 18 attempts with zero errors. Colorado Christian responded in the second game by hitting .500 or better over halfway into the frame, and forced Mines to battled back for a 25-20 win. Hicken slammed down five more kills on the way to a 2-0 lead in the match. That led to a final set which was all Orediggers. An early 8-2 lead grew to 16-6, and Mines put away the sweep by hitting over .550 in a 25-13, set-three victory. Eiken hammered down the final kill to give the Orediggers the sweep.
 
NOTABLES
- Mines improved to 39-24 in the all-time series against Colorado Christian, and 4-2 versus the Cougars since 2018.
- Hicken's hitting percentage of .667 on 21 attempts ranks #3 on the program's single-match list. She has put her name on that list three other times this fall.
- Hicken's six aces also mark a career high for single-match production and tie for #5 on Mines' all-time list. Her previous best was four service aces in one match on two different occasions.
- Additionally, Hicken moved over 800 kills for her career.
- Stokes surpassed 4,000 assists for her career in the win against CCU. She is only the second Oredigger to move over the 4K plateau. The other individual was Danielle Johnson-Hazlewood (2012-15).
- Audrey Richard produced two service aces in a single match for the third time in her career.
- Stuewe surpassed 400 kills for her career as well.
- Friday marked the Orediggers' 10th sweep of the fall.
- Head Coach Jamie Magalei is now 308-99 in her career at Mines.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines takes on #2-ranked MSU Denver on Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Auraria Events Center in downtown Denver. Live stats and video on the RMAC Network will be offered for both matches at www.minesathletics.com.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines volleyball on Twitter at @MinesVolleyball and on Instagram at @mines.volleyball. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.