DENVER, Colo. – The #8-ranked Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team closed its season on Thursday afternoon with a five-set loss to seventh-seeded West Texas A&M in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Auraria Event Center.
Bright spots for the Orediggers included 14 kills apiece from
Julia Eiken and
Rose Stuewe with the former converting at .400 on the attack. Eiken's hitting percentage led all hitters in the match.
Amanda Donais and
Taylor Hicken also finished with double-digit kills while Doanis made it a double-double with 12 digs. Remaining highlights for Mines came from
Drew Stokes,
Elle Duis and
April Jergensen. Stokes pushed out 59 assists, eight digs, four kills and three service aces. Duis ground out 24 digs and four assists. Jergensen produced 17 digs of her own to cap it off. Also notable were four total blocks from Hicken.
With the loss, Mines closes the fall 2021 campaign boasting an overall record of 26-4 which provides the Orediggers the highest winning percentage in a season in program history. West Texas A&M (24-4) advances to the second round of the South Central Region bracket to face sixth-seeded UT Tyler. The Lady Buffs earned the advancement by holding the #1-ranked hitting team in the nation to just .204 on the attack. The Orediggers actually held the advantage in kills, assists and digs while pushing 3-3 in service aces. However, WTAMU produced 15 total blocks compared to Mines' eight. Fourth-seeded Angelo State also advanced to the second round with a five-set win over Regis. Top-seeded MSU Denver held a 2-0 lead over CSU Pueblo at the writing of this recap.
HOW IT HAPPENED
In a match that was scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m., Mines and West Texas A&M stepped to the line nearly 30 minutes later after the four-setter between UT Tyler and Colorado Mesa ran late. Stuewe set an early tone with the first kill of the match to make it 1-0. That tone propelled the Orediggers to a 25-20 in the opening set despite a tie score at 9-9. However, the Lady Buffs forced extra points in the second set and walked away with a 26-24 win. Then, WTAMU parlayed its momentum into a 25-17 win in frame three for a 2-1 lead in the match.
Mines was able to even the match at 2-2, but no point came easy against the Lone Star Conference foe. The same was true in the decisive fifth set with five ties in the race to 15 points. Unfortunately for Oredigger nation, when the dust settled, West Texas A&M had earned a 15-13 win and punched its ticket to the second round.
NOTABLES
- Thursday marked Mines' first loss in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament since 2014 as the Orediggers dropped to 0-4 in the all-time series against West Texas A&M.
- The Orediggers now hold an all-time record of 9-13 in the national postseason.
- As a team, Mines shattered the program record for hitting percentage in a season as it posted a combined mark of .313 for the fall. The previous record was .272 as a team in 2017.
- Stokes closed the fall campaign with 1,279 assists which ranks #6 in the program record book. The senior setter also owns the spots at #3 and #5 on that same list.
- Additionally, Stokes tied for #2 on the Orediggers' single-season service ace list as her three on Thursday pushed her to 47 for the season. She now boasts 107 for her career.
- Hicken finished her final campaign hitting .410 which ranks #2 in the program record book. She also owns the #1 spot after hitting .423 last season. Her career hitting percentage checks in at .360 in four years.
- Duis' 24 digs against WTAMU gave her 495 for the season which ranks #10 in Mines' record book.
- Donais closes her career with 17 double-doubles. Stokes returns for another season with 23.
- Head Coach Magalei is now 318-102 in her career at Colorado School of Mines.
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines turns its focus to offseason training as it awaits the announcement of the D2CCA and AVCA All-America teams as well as the CoSIDA Academic All-America teams. All awards will be announced 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.
