PUEBLO, Colo. – The #22 Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team clinched a berth in the 2022 RMAC Volleyball Tournament on Friday night thanks to a 3-1 win at CSU Pueblo.
 
Outside hitters ruled the night for the Orediggers. Rose Stuewe led all players with 20 kills while hitting .350 on the pin. She had one block and four digs as well. Fellow outside hitter Megan Neil hammered out a 12-kill, 12-dig double-double while hitting .300 with one block. Another notable hitter was Morgan McChesney, touting eight kills, one block, one service ace and a .357 hitting percentage. Drew Stokes went above and beyond, turning in a 47-assist, 10-dig double-double with one ace, three kills and no errors on the attack. Elle Duis led the back row with 26 digs in four sets while Hailey Aigner added 10 more digs as well.
 
Mines (16-5, 11-2 RMAC) overcame CSU Pueblo's (16-5, 9-4 RMAC) which entered the night ranked #17 in the nation in blocks per set. The ThunderWolves racked up 10 total blocks compared to three by the Orediggers. That limited the visitors to .244 on the attack, but CSU Pueblo's hitting percentage of .201 was too low to overcome Mines' efficiency. The Orediggers finished with 63 kills on 52 assists with 78 digs while the ThunderWolves had just 44 kills on 40 assist with 56 digs. Only one player for CSU Pueblo had double-digit kills, and that was Payton Vander Veen with 14 on .250 hitting. Also notable was "The Pack's" Josey Nunn racking up five total blocks while two other home players had four apiece.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first road trip in three weeks pitted #22 Colorado School of Mines against a CSU Pueblo squad receiving votes in the national poll, and right on the heels of the Orediggers in the RMAC standings. Appropriately so, all but one set on Friday night was an absolute grind. There were 10 ties and two lead changes in the opening frame. CSU Pueblo won that set by a score of 25-20 thanks to 4.0 total blocks. Set two featured eight ties and three lead changes, and Mines earned the 25-23 win thanks to Stuewe's six kills on .500 hitting. Eight digs by Duis didn't hurt either.
 
With the match tied at one set apiece, the visiting Orediggers grabbed the ThunderWolves by the proverbial scruff of their neck in the third set. McChesney hammered out five kills, Stuewe added four more kills, and Mines ran away to a 25-16 win while hitting .367 as a team in the frame. However, the grind returned in set four. The Orediggers trailed by as much as 9-2, and never led until Shannon Perna's service ace made it 26-25 in favor of the visitors. That ace marked the culmination of four set-point opportunities for CSU Pueblo. Mines needed just two shots at the win to clinch it. Neil's kill at 26-26 set it up, and an attack error from "The Pack," clinched the win for the Orediggers.
 
NOTABLES
- Mines improved to 33-42 in the all-time series against CSU Pueblo.
- The Orediggers have won two straight and 12 of the last 13 when playing the ThunderWolves.
- Even though Mines played CSU Pueblo in Pueblo, Colo., the Orediggers haven't lost to "The Pack" in Golden since 1991.
- Friday marked Stuewe's first 20-kill match of 2022. She leads Mines this season with 261 at a clip of 3.53 kills per set, and moved over 900 kills for her career.
- Stokes moved over 900 assists for the season on Friday night.
- Neil's double-double was the third of her career while Stokes notched her 32nd career double-double.
- Additionally, Stokes moved into a tie for #4 on Mines' all-time service ace list. She now has 125 in her career which matches Katie Streicher's total from 1995-98.
- Head Coach Magalei now owns a career record of 334-107.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines faces UCCS on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Colorado Springs. 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.