DENVER, Colo. – The 2022 RMAC Volleyball Tournament came to an end for #22 Colorado School of Mines on Friday evening as the Orediggers fell in four sets to #1 MSU Denver inside the Auraria Event Complex.
Rose Stuewe fueled the Mines offense with 19 kills which led the team and ranked second in the match. She did on .350 hitting and added two digs, one block and one assist while playing on the outside. Second on the team in offense were
Shannon Perna and
Morgan McChesney touting nine kills each.
Elle Duis' 18 digs were tops in the back row. Perna was one dig and one kill shy of a double-double with nine digs as well.
Drew Stokes finished her last RMAC Tournament with 39 assists and nine digs while adding two kills and one block.
Audrey Richard and Perna both had service aces.
The loss was the first for Mines (21-7) in the RMAC Tournament since 2018. MSU Denver (27-1) lived up to its #1 national ranking by winning all but three statistical categories. The Orediggers matched the Roadunners' 56 digs and three blocking errors while committing fewer service errors. With the loss, Mines goes home and awaits the NCAA Selection Show scheduled for Sunday night, Nov. 13, at 8:30 p.m. The victory for MSU Denver sends the Roadrunners to the RMAC Tournament Championship match for a seventh consecutive season. MSU Denver has not won a conference tournament title in that span.
HOW IT HAPPENED
While Friday's RMAC Tournament Semifinal showdown may not have gone a full five sets, it afforded all the facets of a heavyweight title fight. The excitement started in the very first set with Mines facing a 17-10 deficit. Many inside the Auraria Event Center may have assumed the match was over before it had truly begun. They would have been wrong. The Orediggers made the last half of the opening set a combined 15-4 run and rallied for a gritty, 25-21 win behind three kills apiece from Perna and Stuewe.
The second saw MSU Denver even the match at 1-1 despite Stuewe hammering down six kills and upping her match attack percentage to .538. It was a 25-17 final for the Roadrunners who hit a blazing .448 on offense. Frame three was much of the same. MSU Denver methodically built its way to another 25-17 win behind .348 hitting while holding the Orediggers under .200 on offense. It was the fourth set that brought back the drama of a true title fight. Mines charged out to a 7-3 lead that went to 12-6. However, the top-ranked team in the country would not allow itself to be upset by the same team for a second straight year. Slowly, but surely, the Roadrunners clawed back and finished the win with a score of 25-22.
NOTABLES
- Mines is now 21-67 in the all-time series against MSU Denver, but sit 5-5 over the last 10 matchups.
- Friday marked the Orediggers' first RMAC Tournament loss since 2018. Mines' last RMAC Tournament loss came at the hands of MSU Denver, in five sets, at Lockridge Arena in Golden, Colo.
- Since 2008, Mines is 24-10 in the RMAC Tournament. Since 2015, the Orediggers are 18-3 in the RMAC Tournament. Since 2019, Mines is 10-1 in the RMAC Tournament.
- Additionally, since the start of the 2016 RMAC Tournament, Mines is 8-4 inside the Auraria Event Center at MSU Denver. That span includes three RMAC Tournament titles for the Orediggers.
- Stokes is now tied for #10 on Mines' single-season assists list, matching Emily Collett's 1,169 from 2007.
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Audrey Richard, a defensive specialist, notched the fifth kill of her career on Friday night.
- The teams playing for the RMAC Tournament Championship on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. are second-seeded Regis and top-seeded MSU Denver. They will play a 6 p.m. in downtown Denver.
- Head Coach Magalei now owns a career record of 339-109.
WHAT'S NEXT
As stated above, Mines await the NCAA Selection Show schedule for Sunday, Nov. 13, at 8:30 p.m. (MT) to see if its season will continue. The Orediggers were #5 in the last NCAA Regional Rankings and the top eight advance to the national postseason. All applicable updates will be posted 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.
