DENVER, Colo. – The lower seeded and lower ranked Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team scored a first-round upset on Thursday evening with a 3-2 win against third-seeded and #14-ranked Regis to advance in the NCAA South Central Region Tournament.
Multiple career nights fueled the Oredigger win and filled the box score.
Rose Stuewe was tops on offense, leading all players with 24 kills while hitting .316. Fellow outside hitter
Megan Neil hit an identical .316 with 15 kills. Neil made it a double-double by adding 12 digs as well.
Shannon Perna's 10 kills rounded out the double-digit attackers for Mines. On defense,
Elle Duis churned out 28 digs and
Morgan McChesney knocked down three total blocks. The star and coordinator of the show was
Drew Stokes who put up a 56-assist, 20-dig double-double.
Jada Price and Neil each provided service aces.
Mines (22-7) defied the statistical odds to get the victory. The Orediggers were out-hit, out-blocked, and out-served by Regis (22-8) with margins of .217-.207, 6-5, and 5-2 with the last being service aces. However, the sixth-seeded squad extended rallies with 83 digs compared to 76 by third-seeded RU while also committing fewer attack errors and fewer service errors. Mines' gritty win extended its season and gave the Orediggers the season-series victory over Regis which saw its 2022 campaign come to a close. Mines advances to face second-seeded and #9-ranked West Texas A&M on Friday at 5 p.m. which marks a rematch of the first round of the 2021 NCAA tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The weather outside in downtown Denver on Thursday afternoon was miserable with the metro area under a winter storm warning. However, the action inside the Auraria Event Center was red-hot. Mines provided the heat in the opening set by hitting .344 as a team on the way to a 25-19 win. Eight combined kills from
Emily Knight and Perna with zero errors fueled the attack percentage and the victory. That being said, the opening frame included 11 ties and seven lead changes. Then, Regis came out in set two and held the Orediggers to .188 on the attack while claiming a 25-22 win to even the match. The Rangers earned the win despite Stuewe's five kills, 14 combined digs from Stokes and Duis with the former pumping out 13 assists.
With a final score of 32-30, many would think the third set was the climax of the match. There were 16 ties and eight lead changes, marking the most back-and-forth of the entire match. Furthermore, Stuewe and Neil combined for 12 kills with just one error total. Stokes handed out 15 assists and Duis came up with an astounding 10 digs. All of that led to a Mines victory and a 2-1 lead in the match. However, those assuming that was the turning point and the climax would be very wrong. Regis bounced back for a 25-18 win in a fourth set that the Rangers led from start to finish.
The decisive fifth set was the definition of a heavyweight slugfest. Neither team led by more than one point all the way to an 8-7, Oredigger lead. At that point, a Rangers' error afforded Mines a 9-7 advantage, the largest lead of the set. Stuewe rotated back on to the court, jogging to sub in with a confident stride, a smile on her face, and a determined jut of the jaw. And that was "all she wrote." Even though Regis stayed within two points of the Orediggers until the very end, the favorites in the match could not find the lead. Down the stretch, Knight provided one kill to make it 10-9. Stokes struck for a 12-10 advantage. Stuewe provided kills at 13-11 and 14-12. It was an assisted block from Neil and McChesney that provided the match-clinching point.
NOTABLES
- Mines improved to 28-50-1 in the all-time series with Regis. That record includes back-to-back wins for the Orediggers.
- Regis swept Mines in Denver at the start of RMAC play in 2022. The Orediggers swept the Rangers in Golden later in the season.
- Mines is now 10-13 in the NCAA tournament.
- Friday marked the Orediggers' third five-set match of the season, seventh-seven in the NCAA tournament, and just their second five-set win in the national postseason.
- Since 2015, Mines is 6-1 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
- Single-match, career highs for the Orediggers included Stuewe's 24 kills, Stokes' 20 digs, Stuewe's 57 attacks, and McChesney's 28 attacks.
- Stuewe moved over 900 kills for her career.
- Stokes posted the 35th double-double of her career while Neil notched her fourth. Neil also hit 300 digs for her career.
- Furthermore, Stokes claimed #10 on the program's all-time, single-season assists list. She now boasts 1,225 assists in 2022.
- Stokes is less than 100 assists away from breaking the top-25 in NCAA Division II history.
- Duis took over #12 on Mines' all-time, single-season digs list as she surged to 481 for the year and surpassed Hannah Margheim who had 458 in 2010.
- Over the last six seasons, since 2017, the Orediggers have played 11 matches at MSU Denver's Auraria Event Center. They now boast a record of 8-4 when playing on the Roadrunners' home court.
- Head Coach Magalei now owns a career record of 340-109.
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines faces third-seeded and #9-ranked West Texas A&M on Friday in the second round of the NCAA tournament at MSU Denver. Tickets can be purchased online or at the door. Live video will be offered for free on the RMAC Network. Free live stats will also be linked 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.
