(4) #22 Mines (20-6, 15-3 RMAC) vs. (5) CSU Pueblo (19-7, 12-6 RMAC) – Thursday, 7:30 p.m. – Denver, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network] [Tournament Central]
RMAC Tournament Semifinal – Friday, 7:30 p.m. – Denver, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network] [Tournament Central]
RMAC Tournament Championship – Saturday, 6 p.m. – Denver, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network] [Tournament Central]

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IT'S THE RMAC TOURNAMENT
The 2022 postseason has arrived for the #22-ranked Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team, and it begins with the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament. Action for the fourth-seeded Orediggers starts Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against fifth-seeded CSU Pueblo inside the Auraria Event Center on the campus of MSU Denver. Winners move on to the semifinals. Losers go home to either wait for the NCAA Selection Show or start preparing for next season. All three rounds of the RMAC Tournament will be played at the Auraria Event Center.
 
TICKETS
Fans can purchase tickets through the RMAC's exclusive ticketing partner HomeTown Ticketing. There are no pass lists for the postseason, meaning tickets are required for each spectator. Colorado School of Mines students can get in free using their Blaster Card. One quarterfinal ticket gets fans access to all four matches on Thursday. The same is true with the semifinal tickets. Adult general admission is $10 with seniors and children getting in for $5. Tickets can be purchased online or at the door.
 
PARKING
The best location to park is the Tivoli Garage located at the corner of Auraria Parkway and 9th street. Fans can use parking codes provided by MSU Denver to park for free. However, fans should also be aware that the garage is across the street from Ball Arena and the Colorado Avalanche will be playing at home on Thursday night and Saturday night. The Denver Nuggets are away for the weekend.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
All seven matches of the 2022 RMAC Volleyball Tournament will stream live and for free on the RMAC Network which can be accessed at minesathletics.com/tv as well as with apps on all major smart TV platforms by searching RMAC. Live statistics are also available at www.minesathletics.com.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Mines closed the 2022 regular season last weekend with sweeps of Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines at Lockridge Arena. Megan Neil had 13 kills, Stuewe had 12 kills and Perna had 11 kills while hitting .579 against BHSU. Emily Knight added five total blocks as well. Saturday's match against SDM was also Senior Night, and Drew Stokes and Elle Duis stole the show. Stokes posted a 40-assist, 10-dig double-double with six kills on .500 hitting. Duis ground out 19 digs in just three sets. On offense, Emily Knight and Shannon Perna combined for 21 kills. The two wins gave the Orediggers 20 wins for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons.
 
SCOUTING CSU PUEBLO
Colorado State University at Pueblo ended the regular season with an overall record of 19-7. The ThunderWolves earned the fifth seed in the RMAC Tournament on the merits of a 12-6 conference record. The Pack started the year 16-3, but went 3-4 through their last seven matches. Even still, the ThunderWolves remain one of the best blocking teams in the RMAC, ranking #2 in total blocks and blocks per set. They also hit .257 as a team to rank #4 in the RMAC and #21 in the nation. That hitting percentage is fueled by Jazzy Espinoza's .400 clip which ranks #11 in the nation. She also averages 1.11 blocks per set and 2.37 kills per set. Payton Van Veen is another threat to watch on offense as she touts 274 kills at a 3.01 kills-per-set clip while hitting .289. Elaine Thibadeau not only leads the back row with 402 digs, she also boasts 43 aces in 26 matches. Overall, CSU Pueblo hits .257 as a team and holds its opponents under .200 on the attack.
 
OREDIGGERS AGAINST THE THUNDERWOLVES
Mines and CSU Pueblo met earlier this season in Pueblo. The Orediggers headed north with a 3-1 win against The Pack thanks to Rose Stuewe's 20 kills on .350 hitting. Elle Duis also had 26 digs and Drew Stokes dished out 47 assists with 10 digs. That improved Mines to 33-42 in the all-time series against the ThunderWolves with the Orediggers winning nine of the last 10 meetings and 17 of the last 20. The last time Mines and CSU Pueblo played in the volelyball postseason was the 2015 RMAC Tournament. The ThunderWolves came to Golden on Tuesday, Nov. 17, for the quarterfinals, and the Orediggers triumphed in four sets. Prior to that, Mines and CSU Pueblo had not played each other in November since Nov. 15, 1996.
 
THE REST OF THE BRACKET
The RMAC Volleyball Tournament is an eight-team, single-elimination event. Thursday features three other matches in addition to the showdown between #22 Mines and CSU Pueblo. Second-seeded Regis and seventh-seeded South Dakota Mines will start the day at 12 p.m. That winner will face the winner of #3 Colorado Mesa and #6 Colorado Christian who play at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday. Top-seeded and #1-ranked MSU Denver will host the eight seed, Fort Lewis, at 5 p.m. Mines and CSU Pueblo serve as the night cap. The winners of the last two matches of the day will play Friday at 7:30 p.m. with the first semifinal going off at 5 p.m. Saturday's championship match is slated for a 6 p.m. start.
 
DIFFERENT FORMAT
As noted in the first section of this preview, the 2022 edition of the RMAC Volleyball Tournament has a slightly different format. Traditionally, the first round (quarterfinal) is played on Tuesday at the home court of the higher seed in each matchup. After that, the remaining four teams go to the highest remaining seed for the semifinals and finals. With 2022 being a NCAA Division II Fall Festival year, the schedule shifted and those first-round matches would have been played on Election Day which is now a day of civic engagement in NCAA Division II with no practices or countable team activities allowed. All of that to say, the 2022 conference tournament now mocks the format for the NCAA South Central Region Tournament with all eight teams going to the top seed and playing all three rounds in three straight days.
 
RMAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
This week marks the 15th consecutive appearance at the conference tournament for the Mines duo of Head Coach Jamie Magalei and Assistant Coach Heather Dewhirst (formerly Roberts). Since Magalei and Roberts arrived in 2008, the Orediggers have won six RMAC titles in the regular season and five tournament crowns. In fact, Mines has won the last three RMAC Tournament titles after running through the brackets in 2019, spring of 2021 and fall of 2021. Mines' RMAC Tournament record is 23-9 under the guidance of Magalei and Roberts. Since 2015, the Orediggers are 17-2 in the league tournament. Mines' seeding breakdown includes one #6 seed, two #5 seeds, three #4 seeds (including 2022), one #3 seed, four #2 seeds and four #1 seeds. Mines won its first RMAC Tournament as  #1 seed in 2015.
 
LAST YEAR'S TOURNEY
The Orediggers entered the fall 2021 edition of the RMAC Tournament as the #2 seed. They started with a sweep of seventh-seeded Western Colorado inside Lockridge Arena. Mines ran up against third-seeded Colorado Mesa in the semifinal match, and escaped with a five-set victory. In the tournament championship, the Orediggers faced off against the #1 team in the nation and the top seed in the RMAC, MSU Denver. The Roadrunners used their home court advantage to take a 2-0 lead on the Orediggers. Then, Mines ran off three straight wins behind Megan Neil's heroic performance off the bench. Not only did the Orediggers hoist the cup but they beat the #1-ranked team in the nation for the first time in program history.
 
FOUR'S A CHARM
Mines last RMAC Tournament as the fourth seed was the spring of 2021. During the pandemic-impacted season, all three rounds were played at one location. In this case, all eight teams headed to Grand Junction, Colo. Thursday saw the Orediggers sweep Western Colorado. Friday's semifinal was another 3-0 affair as Mines upset top-seeded and #2-ranked Colorado Mesa. In the championship match, Mines rolled past second-seeded and #3-ranked MSU Denver for its second straight RMAC Tournament title at the time.
 
CHAMPIONSHIP STREAK
Colorado School of Mines Volleyball won its first-ever RMAC title in 2012. It was a regular-season crown thanks to a conference record of 17-2 while going 26-7 overall. Since that first title, the Orediggers have won either the regular-season or conference tournament title (or both) every year since. That's now 10 straight years of Mines volleyball winning some sort of conference championship. That run includes just one sweep of the regular-season and tournament crowns. The Orediggers completed the sweep in 2015 when they went 27-6 for the most wins in program history, which still stands today.
 
REGIONAL RANKINGS
Wednesday afternoon marked the final release of the NCAA regional rankings prior to Sunday's NCAA Selection Show. The regional rankings determine the eight teams from each of the eight regions in NCAA Division II that qualify for the NCAA tournament. The first three rounds of the tournament are played on the campus of the #1 seed in each region. Mines remained #5 in the South Central Region in the latest rankings. The rest of the list included #1 MSU Denver, #2 West Texas A&M, #3 Regis, #4 Colorado Mesa, #6 Dallas Baptist, #7 UT Tyler, #8 CSU Pueblo, #9 Texas A&M-International, and #10 Texas A&M-Kingsville. If the NCAA South Central Region Tournament started this weekend, Mines would play Colorado Mesa at MSU Denver.
 
ALL-TIME GREATS
Graduate students Drew Stokes and Elle Duis have written their names all over the program record book over the last five seasons. Earlier this year, Stokes became the Orediggers' all-time assists leader. She enters the RMAC Tournament with 5,700 assists in her career. That ranks #1 among all active players in NCAA Division II and #3 across all divisions of the NCAA. Additionally, during this season alone, Stokes is #2 in DII in assists per set and #21 in total assists. Duis became Mines' all-time digs leader earlier this season as well. She'll start the postseason with 2,200 digs which ranks #3 among all active players in DII. Among other numerous accomplishments, Stokes and Duis are both climbing the Orediggers' all-time service ace list. Stokes is #4 with 126. Duis ranks #6 with 119.
 
STILL #1
Colorado School of Mines is still #1 in NCAA Division II this season in assists per set and kills per set. That's it. That's the "tweet."
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
While the national rankings released by the American Volleyball Coaches' Association technically have no bearing on the national postseason (that's the NCAA regional rankings), Mines did appear in the 11th release of the national list for 2022. After another 2-0 weekend, the Orediggers held strong at #22. MSU Denver remained #1, Regis stayed #14 and Colorado Mesa dropped to #17. Other 2022 foes for the Orediggers were Southwest Minnesota State at #7 with Ferris State and Hillsdale receiving votes. West Texas A&M was the only other team from the South Central Region on the list, slotting in at #11.
 
OFFICIALLY A HALL OF FAMER
On Saturday, Oct. 8, Oredigger volleyball all-American Jackie Stabell was officially inducted into the Mines Athletics Hall of Fame as part of the 2022 class. The ceremony took place on as part of the Mines Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet and Auction inside Lockridge Arena. Stabell played for the Orediggers from 2009-12 as became the first all-American in Mines Volleyball's decorated history. A two-time all-American, Stabell was a member of four NCAA Tournament-qualifying teams and paced the Orediggers to the first of what would become four consecutive RMAC regular-season championships in 2012. The 2012 RMAC Player of the Year set records along the way from her outside hitter position, establishing herself as the program's all-time kills leader over her four-year career. Her full bio can be found HERE.
 
AT THE HELM
Head Coach Jamie Magalei is in her 15th season leading the Mines volleyball program in 2022. She is easily the program's all-time leader in total wins and win percentage at 338-108 (.757). Her winning percentage going into the season ranked #15 among active NCAA Division II head coaches with a minimum of five years at a DII program. Her 318 wins at the start of 2022 put her #47 in terms of total wins among active DII coaches. Magalei's win total also ranks second among active RMAC coaches. Last season, Magalei became only the sixth head volleyball coach to earn 300 wins while coaching in the RMAC. Through 2021, Magalei has guided Mines to six RMAC regular-season titles and five RMAC Tournament trophies with 12 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Magalei has led the Orediggers to either a RMAC regular-season or tournament title every season since 2012 including a sweep of both in 2015.

UP NEXT
If Mines wins on Thursday, it will play on Friday. If the Orediggers win Friday, they play on Saturday. A loss at any time sends Mines back to Golden to await the 2022 NCAA Selection Show which is set to air Sunday, Nov. 13, at 8:30 p.m. at www.ncaa.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.