GOLDEN, Colo. – Mines Head Coach Jamie Magalei earned the 300th win of her career on Thursday night as the #11 Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team scored a 3-1 victory over Regis inside Lockridge Arena.
 
Oredigger highlights abounded in the milestone win. Taylor Hicken led the offense by knocking down 17 kills while hitting .371. She also added four service aces and three blocks. Lindsey Jin and Amanda Donais both added double-digit kills with 13 and 10, respectively, along with six service aces from Donais. The resume of setter Drew Stokes featured 45 assists, seven digs, two kills, two aces and one block. Elle Duis was arguably the difference maker overall, touting 24 digs and four assists with one kill from the back row.
 
With the victory, Mines (8-1, 1-0 RMAC) extended its winning streak to five and snapped Regis' (5-4, 0-1 RMAC) three-match run. As a team, the Orediggers held a .272-.199 advantage on the attack. However, the biggest difference was a 13-6 margin in service aces that was in favor of the home team. Points, kills, blocks, assists and digs all went to Mines as well. Prior to Thursday, Regis had won four of the last five meetings between the two teams.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Another warm day in Golden gave way to clouds. However, the weather outside was of no consequence to the Orediggers or Rangers as Lockridge Arena afforded a comfortable climate-controlled environment for both teams' RMAC openers on Thursday evening. While the climate control operated at peak efficiency, things quickly heated up on the court.
 
The home team set the early tone by cruising to comprehensive, 25-13 victory in the opening set. Mines hit .406 as a team behind four kills apiece off the respective hands of Jin and Hicken. The Orediggers also racked up four service aces in the opening frame including two courtesy of Donais, which helped greatly in the 1-0 match lead. Mines' smooth sailing wouldn't last long as the remaining three games turned into knockdown, drag-out battles.
 
Set two saw Regis challenge to home team point-for-point and grind out a 27-25 win. The difference came on the attack with the Rangers hitting .250 and limiting Mines to .200. By the time the whistle blew for the third set, the temperature inside Lockridge Arena had certainly surpassed the heat of the day. The Orediggers and Rangers again went back and forth each point all the way to a 23-22 advantage for Mines. It was then that Jin knocked down a kill from Stokes and Donais clinched the win and 2-1 lead with a service ace.
 
While the 25-21 score of the fourth frame intimated a close game, it played as if Mines had taken Regis' best shot with minimal effect. The Orediggers jumped out to a 4-1 lead and then made it 11-5 thanks to a block from Eiken and Megan Neil. The visitors pulled back within three points on two occasions, but Mines' offense proved too much. Back-to-back kills by Eiken and Stokes made it 23-17. Regis put together a small run but inconsequential run, and the graduate student Jin finished it by tooling a kill off the RU block.
 
NOTABLES
- Coach Magalei became the sixth coach in history to reach 300 wins while coaching in the RMAC. She is second only to Colorado Mesa's Dave Fleming.
- Mines is now 26-48-1 in the all-time series against Regis, but Magalei holds a career record of 20-12 versus the Rangers.
- Thursday marked the 75th all-time meeting between the Orediggers and RU.
- Mines' 13 service aces are the most in a single match in more than seven years. The Orediggers haven't surpassed 10 service aces in a single match since 2014.
- Donais' six aces were a career high for the senior, surpassing her previous best of five, which she accomplished on two occasions. She now has 77 aces in her career.
- Hicken's 17 kills were one shy of her career best and put her over 700 kills in her career. Her four service aces also proved to be a single-match high.
- Duis shot over 1,400 career digs on Thursday night and now is 25 away from #4 on Mines' all-time list.
- Coach Magalei is now 300-99 in her career as a head collegiate volleyball coach.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Orediggers take the court next on Saturday at Westminster in Salt Lake City. First serve is slated for 4 p.m. in Mines' first true road match of the year. Campus policy at WC dictates all spectators wear a mask regardless of vaccination status. 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.