RAPID CITY, S.D. – Saturday's regular-season finale saw the #10-ranked Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team sweep South Dakota Mines inside the King Center.
 
For a second consecutive night, Taylor Hicken led all plays on 13 kills and a .458 attack percentage. Fellow middle blocker Julia Eiken was right behind with nine kills and .400 hitting. Drew Stokes provided another massive performance highlighted by 43 assists and five service aces. Elle Duis racked up 14 digs. Also notable was Amanda Donais' nine kills and 10 digs.
 
Colorado School of Mines (23-3, 16-2 RMAC) closed its regular season riding a six-match win streak with all six victories coming in straight sets. Saturday's win clinched the #2 seed in the RMAC Tournament for the Orediggers. With the loss, South Dakota Mines saw its season come to a close despite winning two of their final three matches. Colorado School of Mines earned Saturday's win thanks to a .266-.146 advantage on the attack and six service aces.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The visitors from Colorado set the tone from the first point as Hicken led the charge in 25-16, set-one victory. South Dakota Mines made a match of it in the second game and pushed the Orediggers into extra points. However, Hicken had five more kills with no errors on the attack and the visitors worked back-to-back points for a 27-25 win. In the final set, the home team produced a massive run and took a 19-18 lead. The Orediggers clapped back by scoring seven straight for the 25-19, match-clinching victory. Stokes provided two of the final three points by way of service ace.
 
NOTABLES
- The Orediggers improved to 8-4 in the all-time series against the Hardrockers.
- Duis moved over 400 digs for the season on Saturday night.
- Hicken's 13 kills at SDM put her over 900 for her career.
- Notable but missed was Stokes hitting the 1,000 assist mark for the season on Friday night. Her five aces on Saturday put her over 100 service aces in her career. She's now #6 on Mines' all-time list.
- The Orediggers have swept 16 different opponents this fall.
- Coach Magalei is now 315-101 in her career at Colorado School of Mines.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Orediggers will await the announcement of the RMAC Tournament bracket to know their opponent for the quarterfinals. No matter who the opposition is, Mines will play Tuesday at 7 p.m. inside Lockridge Arena.
 
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.