DURANGO, Colo. - #8 Colorado School of Mines finished its road weekend with another win, dispatching Fort Lewis in four sets with a 3-1 (25-16, 18-25, 25-22, 25-17) win.

The Orediggers (13-1, 6-0 RMAC) extended their program-best start winning their 10th match in a row. The Skyhawks fell to 2-8 overall and 2-4 in RMAC play.

The nation's #1 hitting team was red-hot at the net again with a .356 match clip including .471 in the first and .414 in the fourth sets. 

Taylor Hicken continued her torrid play from the middle with 14 kills hitting .545, while Amanda Donais had a match-high 16 kills hitting .394 and Lindsey Jin went for 13 kills at a .321 rate. Drew Stokes put up 49 assists and Elle Duis had a season-high 25 digs.

Mines cruised 25-16 in the opening set hitting .471, but the Skyhawks battled back as Mines committed seven hitting errors in a 25-18 second set loss. The Orediggers then had to stretch for a close third-set win, leading most of the way until two straight FLC points forced a Mines timeout up 22-21. The Orediggers answered with a Jin kill and a point off an error, then rode Hicken's kill to the set win and the 2-1 lead.

In the fourth, Fort Lewis led early on before April Jergensen's seven-serve, two-ace run flipped an 8-6 deficit into a 13-8 lead. FLC answered with four straight points, but Mines never trailed again as kills by Donais, Hicken, and Jin extended the lead to 18-13. Donais threw down the final two points of the set to finish the match.

NOTABLES
- Mines leveled the all-time series against the Skyhawks 35-35, winning their 19th consecutive match against FLC dating back to 2008.
- Donais matched her season kills high at 16, the fourth time she's reached the mark in 2021.
- Jin continued her hot hitting as she has collected 38 kills at a .476 clip over her last three matches.
- Hicken upped her team-leading hitting percentage to .459 for the season. The senior is averaging 3.35 kills per set, also a team best.
- Stokes crossed 3,900 career assists as she heads towards being the second Oredigger to reach 4,000; the senior stands at 3,918. 
- Friday's win at Western Colorado marked Mines' best season start ever and Saturday's victory only extended that; the Orediggers' previous best start was 11-2 in 2014.
- Head Coach Jamie Magalei is now 305-99 in her career at Mines.

NEXT UP
Mines returns home to host Adams State Friday and New Mexico Highlands Saturday.