GOLDEN, Colo. – Friday night marked the celebration of Parents' Night for the #22 Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team, and the Orediggers honored their parents with a 3-0 win against Black Hills State inside Lockridge Arena.
 
Megan Neil led all players with 13 kills. Rose Stuewe added 12 kills and hit .348. Shannon Perna made it a trio of Orediggers touting double-digit kills with 11 on .579 hitting. Elle Duis anchored the back row by putting up 13 digs. Drew Stokes did it all, going 2-for-2 on the attack while dishing out 37 assists with six digs, four blocks and one service ace. Also notable were two aces each for Jada Price and Morgan McChesney. Defensively, Emily Knight notched five blocks and McChesney had four.
 
Mines (19-6, 14-3 RMAC) clicked on all cylinders, hitting .372 as a team with nine total blocks and seven service aces. Black Hills State (4-21, 3-14 RMAC) produced eight blocks of its own, but only had one service ace and posted a team attack percentage of .152. With the win, the Orediggers clinch a top-four seed in the RMAC Tournament. The loss was the sixth straight for the Yellow Jackets.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
From first serve to final point, the Orediggers needed just one hour and three minutes of actual time to dispatch the Yellow Jackets. The opening set saw Mines overcome an early .000 attack percentage as the home team ran away to a 25-15 win. Neil led the initial charge with five kills while Duis put up five big digs. Set two was also back-and-forth early. The Orediggers held a narrow, 11-10 lead, but an 8-2 run put them in the driver's seat. They put 25 on the scoreboard in 19 minutes to clinch the 25-19 win thanks to six kills apiece from Stuewe and Perna. Mines polished off the sweep in 18 minutes, using four aces and four total blocks in the 25-12 win.
 
NOTABLES
- Mines improved to 15-1 in the all-time series against Black Hills State.
- The Orediggers have won 15 straight meetings with the Yellow Jackets including 11 sweeps.
- Mines' nine total blocks on Friday night tied its season high.
- The Orediggers have swept 12 opponents in 19 wins in 2022.
- Price now boasts at least one service ace in 10 of her last 11 matches. All 18 of her aces this season have come in that span.
- Stokes took sole possession of #4 on Mines' all-time service ace list with one against BHSU. She broke her tie with Katie Streicher and now owns 126 in her career.
- Knight touts five blocks in a match on three different occasions including Friday night.
- Head Coach Magalei now owns a career record of 337-108.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines hosts South Dakota Mines on Saturday night at 5 p.m. with Senior Night ceremonies to follow the match. Tickets can be purchased at www.minesathletics.com/tickets. 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.