GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The #15-ranked Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team toppled #2-ranked Colorado Mesa in straight sets at Brownson on Friday night and advanced to the championship match of the RMAC Tournament.
Rose Stuewe led all players with 11 kills thanks to an attack percentage of .429.
Taylor Hicken was right behind, touting 10 kills while hitting .556. Arguably most impressive were
Julia Eiken's seven total blocks including one solo and six assisted. Eiken also notched five kills and four digs.
Elle Duis put up eight digs and two service aces.
Drew Stokes rounded everything out with 35 assists at nearly 12 assists per set while tacking on nine digs, three kills, three blocks and one ace.
Amanda Donais checked in boasting a resume of eight kills, five blocks and three digs.
Mines (10-4) recorded its second straight sweep of the conference tournament thanks to a combined hitting percentage of .306. However, it was the Orediggers' defense that fueled the victory, racking up 10 total blocks to hold Colorado Mesa (15-1) to just .067 on the attack. Mines held the advantage over CMU in every single statistical category as the Orediggers dealt the Mavericks their first loss of the season. Colorado Mesa also suffered from seven blocking errors and six service errors as part of the defeat.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Just 11 days ago, #2-ranked Colorado Mesa had swept Mines at Lockridge Arena in just one hour and 26 minutes. Apparently, the Orediggers took it personally as they returned the favor on Friday night. Despite an early back-and-forth in each set, Mines rolled to set wins of 25-13, 25-20 and 25-17. In fact, the Orediggers trailed CMU only once the entire night and that came at 16-15 in the second set. The Mavericks' lead last just one point over the course of all three frames.
Donais fueled the win in game one with six kills as the visitors hit .485 as a team. Then, Mines' defense put on a clinic in the second set as the Orediggers knocked down seven total blocks as a team and held CMU to a hitting percentage of -.048. As the fourth seed, Mines closed out the victory with relative ease, taking leads of 2-0, 4-1, 6-2 and 14-8 in the final frame. The Orediggers' final three points came off errors from the top-seeded Mavericks.
NOTABLES
- Mines is 20-44-1 in the all-time series against Colorado Mesa but 6-4 in the last 10 meetings between the two teams.
- Friday marked the Orediggers' first sweep of CMU since 2017. It also marks Mines' second straight trip to the RMAC Tournament Championship match.
- Stokes' three kills against the Mavericks put the junior over 200 kills for her career.
- Mines' 10 blocks as a team on Friday night marked its second-best defensive performance of the season.
- Head coach
Jamie Magalei is 291-98 in her 13th season at Mines.
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines faces second-seeded and #3-ranked MSU Denver in the championship match of the RMAC Tournament on Saturday night at 6 p.m. inside Brownson Arena in Grand Junction, Colo. Live stats and video of the match will be available for free 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.
