DENVER, Colo. – It was a battle for every point and every set at the Auraria Event Center on Friday evening. In the end, the #22 Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team closed its season with a 3-2 loss at the hands of #9 West Texas A&M in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Megan Neil's surgical attack helped her lead the Orediggers with 16 kills. Teammate
Rose Stuewe was right behind with 15 kills. Mines setter
Drew Stokes proved outstanding in her career finale, posting a 50-assist, 13-dig double-double as well as three aces and one block.
Elle Duis did her thing in the back row and finished with 21 digs while
Audrey Richard posted 10 digs. Rounding out the highlights were
Morgan McChesney and
Shannon Perna. McChesney collected four blocks and Perna had two service aces.
Mines (22-8) won the service game thanks to seven aces. However, West Texas A&M (29-4) lived up to its elite blocking reputation and put down eight blocks compared to the Orediggers' six. The Lady Buffs were also more efficient on the attack. Two of Friday's five sets involved extra points, and Mines pushed WTAMU all the way to 15-13 in the final set. The Orediggers close their campaign with at least 22 wins for 10 of the last 11 seasons. West Texas A&M advances to the regional final to face the winner between MSU Denver and Colorado Mesa.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Everything clicked for Mines in the first set. The defense totaled 3.0 blocks and held West Texas A&M to .000 on the attack. In the service game, the Orediggers racked up three service aces. A team hitting percentage of .267 was fueled by Neil's set-hight three kills with zero errors. All of that came together for a 25-15 win and a 1-0 lead in the match. But the second set was much less lopsided. Neither team led by more than two points for the duration of the frame. Stuewe had five kills and Neil saved Mines at the first set point with a kill. However, the Orediggers could not keep the Lady Buffs from tying the match on a 26-24 win.
The roller coaster continued as WTAMU returned the favor to Mines with a lopsided win, winning the third frame, 25-14. The Orediggers weren't done yet. They extended their season in an extra-points fourth set. With the score tied at 24, Neil hammered down another kill and
Emily Knight stepped up with a solo block for a 26-24 win. Fans could not be disappointed with the excitement of the final frame. Both teams delivered blows and went point-for-point. However, in the end, it was West Texas A&M eking out a 15-13 win to advance in the national tournament.
NOTABLES
- Mines is now 0-5 in the all-time series with West Texas A&M.
- The Orediggers hold a record of 10-14 in the NCAA tournament.
- Friday marked the Orediggers' fourth five-set match of the season, and eighth in Mines' NCAA tournament history. It was only the Lady Buffs' third five-setter of 2022.
-
Gabby Castronova,
Elle Duis,
Megan Neil,
Audrey Richard, and
Drew Stokes all closed out their collegiate careers on Friday night.
- Among numerous accolades and milestones, Stokes closed her time as the Orediggers' all-time assists leader and also tied for #4 on the all-time service ace list thanks to three against WTAMU.
- Duis, similar to Stokes, racked up multiple awards and milestones, highlighted by her standing as Mines' all-time digs leader.
- Also notable is the end of
Elle Duis' collegiate career marks the end of nearly a "Decade of Duis" in an Oredigger uniform after her sister Delaney played for Mines from 2016-19.
- Elle finished her final season with over 500 digs thanks to 21 against the Lady Buffs, and Stokes surpassed 1,000 digs for her career in the same match.
- Through four postseason matches, including the RMAC Tournament, Stuewe totaled 77 kills at an average of 4.05 kills per set.
- Stokes also posted the 36th double-double of her career.
- Head Coach Magalei now owns a career record of 340-110.
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines enters its offseason. Many awards remain to be announced including all-America, AVCA All-Region, and College Sports Communicators Academic All-America. Each award will be announced at
www.minesathletics.com and on social media.
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.
