GOLDEN, Colo. – The #11 Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team closed its own Oredigger Classic on Saturday with a four-set loss to #22 Southwest Minnesota State followed by a sweep of #19 UT Tyler to finishing opening weekend 3-1.
Oredigger
Shannon Perna was the star on offense for a second straight day. She totaled 25 kills on .524 hitting while adding 13 digs and four blocks with one ace through two matches on the way to all-tournament honors.
Rose Stuewe and
Emily Knight were also big on the attack, combining for 37 kills.
Drew Stokes' 85 assists at an average of 12.14 assists per set coordinated the success, and she also hit .700 with seven kills and zero hitting errors while joining Perna on the all-tournament team. On defense, Knight led Mines with six blocks. All-tournament selection
Elle Duis anchored the back row with 27 digs in seven sets. Also notable were
Meghan Slaninka's five service aces across two matches.
The Orediggers (3-1) averaged .315 on the attack despite being blocked 15.0 times, but held Southwest Minnesota State (4-0) and UT Tyler to a combined hitting percentage of .246 thanks to 9.0 blocks. The rest of the Oredigger Volleyball Classic All-Tournament team included MVP Erin Curl from Colorado Mesa, Saari Kuehl of Southwest Minnesota State, Sierra Hunt from Colorado Mesa, Sally Gaul of Northern State, Colorado Christian's Libby Goodman, and Alisa Bengen, also from SMSU. The Mustangs from Minnesota and the NSIC were the only team out of seven to finish the weekend undefeated.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Mines fought hard against a highly touted opponent in its Saturday opener as evidenced by set scores of 21-25, 25-20, 23-25 and 23-25. Furthermore, both teams hit over .300 on offense with the Orediggers clocking a .314 average while SMSU converted at a .345 clip. However, the Mustang's 11 blocks compared to Mines' five canceled out the host's eight aces to help the visitors prevail despite Duis posting 18 digs. Even so,
Megan Neil,
Rose Stuewe,
Shannon Perna and
Emily Knight all tallied 10 kills apiece in the match. Stokes was also 4-of-5 while hitting .800 and racking up 48 assists. Capping off the Oredigger highlights was Slaninka with four aces in as many sets.
The weekend finale showed Mines' ability to bounce back as the home team owned the match from beginning to end. Stokes' 12 assists helped fuel Stuewe's four kills on the way to a tight, 25-23 victory in game one. Perna carried the torch in game two, slamming down eight kills with zero errors on 10 attempts while the Orediggers hit .586 as a team in a 25-11 shellacking. Perna struck again in the final set with five kills and zero errors on seven attempts while she and Duis combined for 10 digs. Those performances offset a .167 average on offense in a 25-22, match-clinching win.
NOTABLES
- Since 2014, Mines is 26-6 with 18 sweeps at the Oredigger Volleyball Classic.
- Overall, the hosts are 53-15 with a set record of 175-72 in their own tournament since it started in 2005.
- Mines has yet to defeat Southwest Minnesota State in six attempts, but now stands 1-0 in its all-time series against UT Tyler.
- Perna's .682 hitting percentage on 22 attempts against UT Tyler put her #3 in the program record book under hitting percentage in a match with more than 20 attempts. Alanna Winfield and Megan Peterson are the only Orediggers to do better.
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Madison Glassco made her collegiate debut in an Oredigger uniform on Saturday afternoon.
- Head Coach Magalei now owns a career record of 321-103.
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines heads to Michigan next weekend for the Hillsdale Charger "Net Results" Invitational where they will face Missouri S&T, #20 Ferris State, #18 Gannon, and #16 Hillsdale on Friday and Saturday. Live links will be available 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.
