COLORADO SPRINGS – The Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team tied for #2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll released Tuesday afternoon.
 
Five different teams received first-place votes and Mines grabbed one of the 15 first-place votes to tie with Colorado Mesa in the poll with 172 points apiece. The breakdown of top votes included 10 to MSU Denver, two to Colorado Mesa, one to Regis and one to CSU Pueblo. MSU Denver's 10 first-place nods resulted in 192 points and the #1 ranking. After the Orediggers' tie with CMU at #2 was Regis slotting #4 behind 162 points. CSU Pueblo rounded out the top five on the merits of 150 points. Colorado Christian, Adams State and UCCS were all projected to make the eight-team, RMAC Tournament.
 
Mines (26-4, 16-2 RMAC in 2021) return a group of veterans that won the RMAC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA tournament a year ago. Drew Stokes leads the group of returners as the defending RMAC Setter of the Year. Other notable returners include AVCA Honorable Mention All-American libero Elle Duis, Second-Team All-RMAC outside hitter Rose Stuewe and fifth-year outside hitter Megan Neil.
 
The Orediggers open the 2022 campaign with a gauntlet of teams that qualified and advanced deep in last year's national postseason. Mines starts the season hosting the Oredigger Volleyball Classic where it will face Western Colorado, Northern State, Southwest Minnesota State on Aug. 26 and Aug. 27. The Orediggers then head to Michigan to face Missouri S&T, Ferris State, Gannon and Hillsdale at the Hillsdale Charge "Net Results" Invitational on Sept. 2 and Sept. 3.
 
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.
 

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2022 RMAC Volleyball Preseason Poll
1. MSU Denver (10) – 192
t2. Mines (1) – 172
t2. Colorado Mesa (2) – 172
4. Regis (1) – 162
5. CSU Pueblo (1) – 150
6. Colorado Christian – 121
7. Adams State – 97
8. UCCS – 89
t9. South Dakota Mines – 81
t9. Western Colorado – 81
t11. Fort Lewis – 72
t11. New Mexico Highlands – 72
13. Black Hills State – 49
14. Chadron State – 37
15. Westminster – 28