DENVER, Colo. – The #22 Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team outlasted CSU Pueblo through five sets on Friday night to earn a 3-2 win and advance to the RMAC Tournament semifinals at the Auraria Event Center.
 
Five sets and extra points along the way led to a box score stuffed with big numbers. Rose Stuewe's 19 kills led all players in the match. Emily Knight and Shannon Perna boasted double-digit kills for Mines as well with 14 and 11, respectively. In the back row, Elle Duis produced 18 digs and Jada Price had 13. Drew Stokes joined the dig party by putting up 19 digs along with 54 assists to make it a double-double. Mines' defense at the net saw Morgan McChesney and Stuewe walk way touting four blocks apiece. Also notable were two services aces each for Stokes, Audrey Richard, and Hailey Aigner. The top player for CSU Pueblo was freshly christened RMAC Freshman of the Year Payton Van Veen who finished boasting 15 kills, four aces, and three total blocks.
 
Mines (21-6) earned the win by totaling 69 kills, 84 digs, and nine service aces. CSU Pueblo (19-8) held the Orediggers to a .152 attack percentage thanks to 14 total blocks, and produced nine service aces as well. However, the ThunderWolves only had 48 kills and 65 digs while hitting .136 on offense. Mines had seven blocks of its own, but also committed 13 service errors. With the win, the Orediggers advance to their 11th consecutive RMAC Tournament semifinal where they face top-seeded at #1-ranked MSU Denver. The loss ends CSU Pueblo's RMAC Tournament run. The ThunderWolves will await the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday after appearing #8 in the last NCAA Regional Rankings.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Friday's RMAC Tournament finale took two hours and 32 minutes, and every point was a roller coaster. In the first set, CSU Pueblo rose a 10-1 in the middle of the frame to earn a 25-20 win. Despite the set loss, Stuewe posted four kills and hit .500 for the Orediggers. That led to set two where Mines fell behind 7-2. However, the higher seed roared back on a 14-2 run. They eventually tied the match after a 25-18 win thanks to five kills each from Stuewe and Megan Neil. Also notable in set two were Duis' seven digs and Stokes' 16 assists.
 
While the tie score inferred a close match, fans hadn't seen anything until the third set which went to extra points. Mines used a 10-2 run during the heart of the game to take a 17-11 lead. However, the ThunderWolves used their own 10-1 run and clawed back to a 21-18 lead. An Oredigger attack error gave the lower seed a set-point opportunity at 24-23, but a service error evened the frame at 24-24. After that, there was a total of six set points, five ties, and one lead change. The exchange of the lead came on Knight's kill to make the score 27-26 in favor of the Orediggers. Kills from Neil and Stuewe kept Mines tied or in the lead, but it was a pair of CSU Pueblo errors that gave Mines the 31-29 win.
 
After the heart-racing action of the third set, the fourth frame seemed like a foregone conclusion after the Orediggers charged to a 6-1 lead. However, it wouldn't be so simple. The ThunderWolves used two big runs of 6-0 and 9-2 to rally back and claim a 25-21 victory, and force a decisive fifth set. As with the rest of the match, it came down to the very last points. There were seven ties and six lead changes along the way. The final tie was 13-13 thanks to another Stuewe kill. Mines took the 14-13 lead on the powerful hand of Shannon Perna. She struck again on the very next rally and finished off the 15-13 win and the five-set victory for the Orediggers. The fifth set featured six kills from Perna, six digs by Stokes, and zero blocks for Mines which still hit .250 for the frame.
 
NOTABLES
- Mines improved to 34-42 in the all-time series against CSU Pueblo. They have won 10 of the last 11 and 18 of the last 21.
- Friday was only the second time in 25 years that the Orediggers and ThunderWolves had met in the RMAC Tournament. The last meeting was in the 2015 quarterfinals which mines won in four sets.
- The Orediggers have now played two five-set matches in 2022. The other was a 2-3 loss to MSU Denver at Volk Gym during Homecoming Weekend.
- Stuewe had 51 attempts in the match against CSU Pueblo, marking a new career high for the senior.
- Price also set a new career best with her 13 digs. It surpassed her 12 against Adams State on Sept. 30.
- Stokes' double-double was the 34th of her career. She also surpassed her previous single-match, career high for digs.
- Furthermore, Stokes took over #12 on Mines' single-season assists list as she moved up to 1,130 for the year.
- Duis moved over 400 assists for her career.
- Friday marked the Orediggers' first win in 2022 featuring an attack percentage under .200.
- Mines' nine service aces tied its match high for 2022. The Orediggers' 13 service errors were also a match high for the season.
- With Head Coach Jamie Magalei at the helm, Mines is 24-9 in the RMAC Tournament, and 18-2 since 2015.
- Since the start of the 2016 RMAC Tournament, Mines is 8-3 inside the Auraria Event Center at MSU Denver. That span includes three RMAC Tournament titles won at the site.
- Head Coach Magalei now owns a career record of 339-108.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines faces top-seeded and #1-ranked MSU Denver on Friday at 7:30 p.m. inside the Auraria Event Center. Tickets can be purchased online or at the door. Live coverage 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.