#15 Mines (8-4) vs. Western Colorado (6-7) – Thursday, 7:30 p.m. – Grand Junction, Colo. [Live Stats] [Live Video]
RMAC Tournament Semifinal – Friday, 7:30 p.m. – Grand Junction, Colo. [Live Stats] [Live Video]
RMAC Tournament Championship – Saturday, 6 p.m. – Grand Junction, Colo. [Live Stats] [Live Video]
 

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THE POSTSEASON IS HERE
This Thursday, the #15-ranked Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team travels to Grand Junction, Colo., for the RMAC Tournament. With no NCAA Division II Championship, it is truly win or go home. The fourth-seeded Orediggers take on fifth-seeded Western Colorado in the opening round. Whoever wins faces the victor of the match between top-seeded host and #2-ranked Colorado Mesa and eight seed UCCS on Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. Whoever loses sees their COVID-19 season come to a close. The championship match is slated for Saturday at 6 p.m. inside Brownson Arena.
 
SPECTATOR POLICY
The RMAC President's Council voted last week to allow fans at 25-percent capacity for the volleyball tournament. That will allow 450 spectators inside Brownson Arena for each match. Fans are strongly encouraged to purchase their tickets in advance through the conference's official partner HomeTown Ticketing. Tickets are available in four different sessions throughout the weekend. Mines' first-round match falls during session two on Thursday. The Orediggers' potential second match would be during session three on Friday. Live stats and video will also be available for free at www.minesathletics.com.
 
FREE ON THE RMAC NETWORK
Even if fans can't make it to Grand Junction this week, everyone can keep up with each point live and for free on the RMAC Network at www.minesathletics.com/tv. The RMAC Network can also be found on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, and Android TV devices by going to the app store and searching "RMAC". Additionally, live stats are available with links above and on the volleyball schedule page at www.minesathletics.com.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Mines closed the regular season 10 days ago with a three-set loss to #2-ranked Colorado Mesa at Lockridge Arena on Monday, March 29. After dropping the first set by a score of 25-19, the Orediggers jumped ahead early in the following two frames. However, CMU rallied back in both games for wins of 25-23 and 26-24 to clinch the sweep and the RMAC's regular-season title. Julia Eiken and Taylor Hicken notched 11 kills apiece. Drew Stokes put up 32 assists and Elle Duis walked away with 11 digs. Additionally, Amanda Donais knocked down seven kills while hitting .316 and also tallied three blocks and one service ace.
 
SCOUTING WESTERN COLORADO
Western Colorado rolls into the postseason one game under .500 at 6-7 overall and 6-7 in conference play. The Mountaineers closed the regular season with a four-set win over Black Hills State on a neutral court in Pueblo, Colo. Jordyn Todd is WCU's top hitter touting 158 kills while hitting just .164. Hanna Hendrickson handles the setting duties and boasts 487 assists at 8.70 assists per set. Lyria Brook anchors the back row with 194 digs at 3.46 digs per set. Finally, Savanna Meyer runs the net on defense with 59 blocks at a rate of 1.05 blocks per set. The Mountaineers have no individual hitting over .300 on offense. Western Colorado's biggest asset is its block as WCU ranks 21st in the nation in total blocks.
 
FAMOUS MOUNTAINEERS
In the regular-season meeting between Mines and WCU, fans learned the dictionary definition of a mountaineer – Western Colorado's nickname – and found it to be a reasonable name for WCU's athletic teams. This time, we're going to learn about some famous mountaineers. Arguably most famous are George Mallory and Sir Edmund Hillary. Neither of these individuals attended Western Colorado, but both are famous for their exploits on Mt. Everest which is generally known as the highest mountain in the world. Mallory was never confirmed to have reached the 29,032-foot peak as he died on the mountain the midst of his last attempt. Hillary is touted as the first confirmed person to summit the legendary mount. His summit came on May 29, 1953 with the critical assistance of his Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay. There's really no reason for all of this, but maybe you know more about mountaineering now than you ever did before. So, you're welcome.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Thursday marks the 71st all-time meeting on the volleyball court between the Orediggers and Mountaineers. Mines is 33-36-1 in the series. We can again confirm that there was a 1-1 tie in 1980. However, the Orediggers currently boast an active, six-match win streak against the Mountaineers. The most recent meeting was a five-set thriller in Gunnison on February 11 of this year. Amanda Donais and Taylor Hicken both led the way with 15 kills each. Rose Stuewe notched 11 kills as well. Drew Stokes powered out 54 assists. Elle Duis crowned the win boasting 28 digs. Also notable were Donais' 19 digs and four service aces as part of another double-double performance. Mines hasn't lost to WCU since Sept. 25, 2015 and have dropped just three total games since that setback. In fact, 11 of the last 14 victories for Mines against Western Colorado have been sweeps.
 
THE REST OF THE FIELD
The path to even have a volleyball season was long and winding while the path to get to the RMAC Tournament was equally difficult. Most daunting of all was getting from the end of the regular season into the postseason. Since the original eight-team field was announced, both #22-ranked Regis and South Dakota Mines have removed themselves from the bracket. The Rangers' withdraw came early enough that each team moved up one spot and UCCS entered the field. For South Dakota Mines, the match against CSU Pueblo was declared a no contest. As of April 7, top-seeded Colorado Mesa is playing UCCS at 5 p.m. on Thursday. The second seed MSU Denver takes on seventh-seeded Colorado Christian at 1:30 p.m and the winner plays CSU Pueblo in the semifinals at 5 p.m. on Friday. Four of the seven remaining teams are nationally ranked including CMU at second, MSU Denver third, Mines at 15th and CSU Pueblo 25th.
 
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Mines Head Coach Jamie Magalei has been the Orediggers' skipper since 2008. Heather Roberts has been her assistant coach the entire time. Since their arrival, Mines has won six RMAC regular-season titles, advanced to 13 consecutive RMAC Tournaments and won three of them. In fact, the Orediggers are the defending RMAC Tournament Champions after running through the bracket in 2019. Under Magalei and Roberts, Mines is 17-9 in the conference postseason. Since 2015, the Orediggers are 11-2 in the league tournament. Magalei and Roberts have guided Mines to one #6 seed, two #5 seeds, two #4 seeds, one #3 seed, three #2 seeds and four #1 seeds. The Orediggers won their first RMAC Tournament as a #1 seed in 2015. They won the 2019 RMAC Tournament as the fourth seed.
 
FIVE NAMED ALL-RMAC
Drew Stokes was named the RMAC Setter of the Year on Wednesday morning and four other Orediggers earned All-RMAC distinction. Stokes also earned First-Team All-RMAC honors along with Taylor Hicken and Elle Duis. Amanda Donais registered her third consecutive Second-Team All-RMAC nod. Julia Eiken rounded out the contingency as Honorable Mention All-RMAC. Stokes is now a two-time RMAC Setter of the Year and three-time, First-Team All-RMAC honoree. Hicken and Duis grabbed their first nods to the top squad and Eiken brought home the first all-conference honor of her career.
 
UP NEXT
The RMAC Tournament schedule is laid out above. If the Orediggers win, they play on Friday. If they win again, they play Saturday. After that, Mines looks to the 2021 season next fall.
 
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.