GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The #15-ranked Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team won its second straight RMAC Tournament Championship on Saturday with a four-set victory over #3-ranked MSU Denver at Brownson Arena.
 
The fourth-seeded Orediggers dropped just one set over the course of three matches on their way to hoisting the RMAC Cup. Mines' semifinal and championship wins came against the #2-ranked and #3-ranked teams in the nation. Rose Stuewe and Taylor Hicken led the Orediggers' push with 13 kills apiece on Saturday night. Hicken hit .500 and Stuewe converted at a clip of .303. Julia Eiken flirted with a triple-double thanks to 10 kills, nine blocks and seven digs. RMAC Tournament MVP Drew Stokes dished out 47 assists, seven digs, four blocks, three kills and three aces. Not to be understated were Lindsey Jin's 11 kills along with 25 digs, five assists and two aces from Elle Duis.
 
Mines finished the season on a three-match winning streak and posted an overall record of 11-4. Amanda Donais, Hicken and Stuewe joined Stokes on the RMAC All-Tournament team to give the Orediggers four honorees. Mines hit .288 in the championship match while holding MSU Denver to .195 on the attack. Nearly every other statistical category was separated by single digits. The Orediggers also won the 2019 RMAC Tournament title with a four-set win over the same MSU Denver squad on the Roadrunners' home court.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Orediggers dominated the first two sets and jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the match. Mines' 5-0 lead in the opening frame led to a 25-18 win thanks to five kills apiece from Stuewe and Hicken. MSU Denver did not score back-to-back points until the score was 17-6 and then 17-7.  That momentum carried into a 25-20 victory in the second set thanks to a 7-1 run for the Orediggers and Stokes' game-winning kill at 24-20.
 
MSU Denver flipped the script on Mines in the third frame by taking a 3-0 lead to start the game. The Roadrunners did not look back despite a furious rally from the Orediggers to make the score 21-22. Third-ranked MSU Denver avoided the sweep in a 25-21 win.
 
It appeared the conference's second seed would push the match to five sets as the Roadrunners surged to a 24-20 advantage in the fourth game. However, Mines took a page out of #2-ranked Colorado Mesa's playbook and rallied to six straight points for a 26-24 win, the match victory and the RMAC Tournament title. Eiken accounted for two of the final six points on a block and a kill while Stuewe also added a block and a kill. Two MSU Denver errors and a Stokes service aces added up the other four points in the run.
 
NOTABLES
- Mines owns two consecutive RMAC Tournament Championships and has won four of the last six.
- Hicken shattered the program's single-season hitting percentage record by swinging .423 over the course of 15 matches. A minimum of 100 total attempts were required to qualify.
- Hicken also moved over 600 kills for her career thanks to her 13-kill performance in the championship match.
- Saturday's win gives Mines a combined run of nine consecutive RMAC Championships including regular season and tournament titles.
- The last time the Orediggers did not win some sort of RMAC crown was 2011.
- Eiken's nine blocks against MSU Denver helped her finish the season averaging exactly 1.0 blocks per set. She also surpassed 100 total blocks for her career.
- Head coach Jamie Magalei is 292-98 after 13 seasons at Mines.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Saturday marked the end of Mines' 2020-21 campaign. The Orediggers look to return to a standard schedule in the fall which will be announced at www.minesathletics.com
 
Fans can follow the Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team on Twitter at @MinesVolleyball and on Instagram at @Mines_Volleyball. Fans can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all season long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.