GOLDEN, Colo. – Senior Night proved a great success for the #11-ranked Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team as they dismantled Colorado Mesa in straight sets before recognizing the Oredigger senior class after the match.
Junior outside hitter
Rose Stuewe honored her elders by leading the attack with 12 kills on .524 hitting. Senior honorees
Lindsey Jin and
Julia Eiken both knocked down 11 kills apiece while posting attack percentages of .579 and .526, respectively. Jin also notched two blocks and four digs. Another senior
Taylor Hicken proved key thanks to four service aces and three blocks. In the back row,
April Jergensen and
Elle Duis led the way as Jergensen racked up 11 digs and Duis produced 16.
Drew Stokes put the icing on the cake by providing 38 assists, seven digs, three service aces, two kills and one block.
The senior class that Mines (21-3, 14-2) recognized included
Danielle Mullen,
Cora McCanlies,
April Jergensen,
Lindsey Jin,
Amanda Donais,
Julia Eiken and
Taylor Hicken. The Orediggers powered past Colorado Mesa (18-5, 13-3 RMAC) by hitting .406 as a team while limiting the Mavericks to just .115 on the attack. Mines also combined for a total of nine service aces to keep CMU off balance. With the win, Mines clinches a top-four seed in the RMAC Tournament and a first-round home match on Tuesday, Nov. 16. Colorado Mesa's loss snaps a 10-match win streak for the Mavericks and drops them into third place in the conference standings behind the Orediggers and Regis.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Saturday evening brought anticipation of an epic showdown as more than 600 fans filed into Lockridge Arena. The Oredigger wrestling and swim teams bolstered the boisterous crowd with harmless antics as both flaunted their competition apparel throughout the match. However, the anticipation proved disappointing for the healthy Maverick contingency while Mines supporters were overjoyed.
In barely an hour, the Orediggers dispatched the Mavericks with set scores of 25-17, 25-14 and 25-16. While CMU hung close all the way to 12-12 in the opening frame, Stuewe grabbed the spotlight and hammered down five kills to clinch the win. Game two was all Eiken who collected four kills on 1.000 hitting. Stokes divvied out 14 assists in the process as well. Hicken set the tone in the final set by pumping out three early service aces to push Mines to a 5-1 lead. The home team only had three hitting errors in the first two sets and seven for the match.
NOTABLES
- The Orediggers improved to 21-44-1 in the all-time series against Colorado Mesa and are 7-3 in the last 10 meetings between the two teams.
- Jin and Eiken both surpassed 200 kills for the season in the victory.
- Mines' .406 hitting percentage ranks fifth on the season.
- Hicken's three blocks against Colorado Mesa put her at exactly 200 total blocks for her career.
- Stokes' three service aces put her up to 93 in her career which is tied for #8 on the Orediggers' all-time list.
- Mines now boasts an active four-match winning streak with four consecutive sweeps. The Orediggers have swept 14 opponents on the season.
- Coach Magalei is now 313-101 in her career at Mines.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Orediggers close the regular season next weekend at Black Hills State on Friday and at South Dakota Mines on Saturday. Live stats and video on the RMAC Network will be offered 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.
