GOLDEN, Colo. – The #23-ranked Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team celebrated Professor Appreciation Night on Tuesday with a sweep of Chadron State at Lockridge Arena.
 
Rose Stuewe and Shannon Perna led all players in the match with 13 kills each. Stuewe converted hers with a .611 attack percentage while Perna hit .524. Emily Knight also had double-digit kills, notching 10 on .444 hitting to along with two blocks. Drew Stokes was up to her usual tricks with 42 assists, two digs, two kills on two attempts, zero errors and one block. Elle Duis turned in a modest line of nine digs, and Audrey Richard racked up three service aces.
 
Mines (14-5, 9-2 RMAC) won nearly every statistical category. The Orediggers' biggest win was a .385 attack percentage compared to Chadron State (5-6, 7-13 RMAC) hitting .105. The Eagles did out-block the home team, 7-4. However, Mines made up the difference with eight service aces and 34 digs while only committing two errors in serve receive. The other bright spot for CSC was only committing one error from the service line. With the victory, the Orediggers improve to 9-1 over their last 10 matches while Chadron State dropped its fifth straight match.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Orediggers started the weeknight showdown by recognizing a contingency of Colorado School of Mines professors during the announcement of starting lineups. After that, Mines' student-athletes honored their faculty by showing them some of what they do when not in the classroom. Three sets and less than 80 minutes later, the Orediggers had accomplished their mission.
 
Stokes assisted 14 of Mines' 15 kills in the opening frame. Megan Neil knocked down five of them on .571 hitting and fueled a dominant, 25-13 win for the Oredigger. Stuewe carried the torch in set two by hitting 1.000 in the frame with six kills. That led to a 25-15 win despite Chadron State's 6-1 run for a lead in the middle of the set. The Eagles did their best to avoid the sweep in the final frame, forcing seven ties and two lead changes. But it wasn't meant to be. Perna turned in six kills on .625 hitting, and Mines shrugged off four CSC blocks to earn the 25-19 win and the 3-0 decision.
 
NOTABLES
- Mines improved to 44-24 in the all-time series against Chadron State.
- The Orediggers now boast a 24-match win streak over the Eagles which includes 18 sweeps.
- Mines hasn't lost to CSC since Oct. 20, 2007.
- Oct. 20, 2007 was last loss.
- Richard set a career high with her three service aces. She had previously had two service aces in a match on five different occasions.
- Stuewe's .611 attack percentage on Tuesday came on just 18 total attempts.
- Knight and Perna surpassed 200 kills in their respective careers at Mines.
- Over half of the Orediggers' 14 wins in 2022 have come in straight sets.
- Head Coach Magalei now owns a career record of 332-107.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines hosts #16 Regis on Friday at 7 p.m. at Lockridge Arena. Tickets can be purchased online at www.minesathletics.com/tickets. Live coverage will also 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.