Mines (6-4, 1-1 RMAC) at Westminster (3-8, 1-2 RMAC) – Salt Lake City – Friday, 6 p.m. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
Mines (6-4, 1-1 RMAC) at #11 Colorado Mesa (11-0, 3-0 RMAC) – Grand Junction, Colo. – Saturday, 4 p.m. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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OREDIGGERS HEADED WEST
For the second time this season, and in as many road trips, the Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team is headed west. The Orediggers will start their western swing in Salt Lake City on Friday with a match against Westminster at 6 p.m. Saturday brings Mines to the Western Slope of the Colorado Rocky Mountains for at 4 p.m. match at #11-ranked Colorado Mesa. Both contests will count toward the conference standings with Saturday's action looming large against an unbeaten Mavericks team.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Free, live video will be offered on the RMAC Network at www.minesathletics.com/tv. In fact, all of Mines matches for the rest of the season will be available on the RMAC Network. There will also be free live stats this weekend at the individual links above.
 
REMEMBERING THE RMAC OPENERS
Mines opened its 2023 RMAC slate last Friday and Saturday, hosting Chadron State and Colorado Christian at Lockridge Arena. Conference action began in thrilling fashion with a five-set showdown against CSC. Unfortunately for the Orediggers, the Eagles came out on top with a 3-2 win. Even so, Rose Stuewe, Madison Glassco, Morgan McChesney, and Shannon Perna all notched double-digit kills. Glassco made her night a 13-kill, 12-dig double-double. Stuewe led the team with 15 kills. Also notable were eight combined blocks off the hands of McChesney and Perna. Saturday's match was also a five-set thriller. This time, Mines came out on top with a 3-2 win against CCU. Stuewe led the offense once again, knocking down 20 kills on .471 hitting. Perna stacked up six more blocks and three service aces along with 12 kills. Jada Price ground out 20 digs in the back row.
 
1,000 KILLS AND COUNTING
Rose Stuewe surpassed 1,000 kills for her career during Mines' last road trip which took the Orediggers to California and The Cougar Classic hosted by Cal State San Marcos. The monumental kill came against Concordia Irvine when she tied the third set at 19-19. Mines went on to win the match in four sets. Now, 10 matches into the season and two into conference play, Stuewe touts 135 kills for the year and  1,059 for her career. As of Thursday, the Texan needs just 207 kills to break onto Mines' all-time career list.
 
PRESLEY POWELL
Oredigger true freshman setter Presley Powell continues to make a national impact at setter in her inaugural college campaign. In the very first match of her post-prep career, the Texas native dished out 64 assists which tied for #7 in the Mines record book. Those 64 assists are also the most in any NCAA Division II four-set match this season. Through 10 contests, Powell's 418 assists rank #18 in the nation and her average of 10.74 assists per set rank #15 in all of NCAA Division II. Both those numbers also sit #2 in the RMAC.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Mines started the season ranked #22 in the preseason poll managed by the American Volleyball Coaches' Association (AVCA). Despite dropping out of the top-25, the Orediggers have continued receiving votes for three straight weeks. In the latest rankings, Wayne State (Neb.) took over the #1 spot from Concordia-St. Paul. MSU Denver climbed to #8. Colorado Mesa rose to #11. Regis moved into a tie for #16. Non-conference foe and Oredigger Volleyball Classic participant Seattle Pacific continued receiving votes as well. Defending national champion West Texas A&M dropped from #2 to #3.
 
SCOUTING WESTMINSTER
Second-year head coach Sue Delaney has the Westminster volleyball team sitting 3-8 overall and 1-2 in the RMAC heading into this weekend. The Griffins faced #11-ranked Colorado Mesa on Tuesday of this week in Salt Lake City and lost in straight sets. Westminster University's lone conference win on the volleyball court came last Saturday in four sets at Western Colorado in Gunnison. The Griffins also took a loss at the hands of Fort Lewis. In non-conference play, Westminster defeated Texas Woman's in four sets, and swept Minnesota State Moorhead. Individually, Olivia Curtis leads the WU offense with 115 kills. Mailei Myers is also notable on the attack with 74 kills on a .400 hitting percentage. That percentage ranks #21 in all of NCAA Division II. Defensively, Myers boasts 34.0 blocks across 42 sets. Abby Reardon has 121 digs.
 
MINES AGAINST THE GRIFFINS
The Orediggers are 10-0 in the all-time series against Westminster. Mines swept the Griffins twice in 2022. Rose Stuewe hammered out 17 kills on .667 hitting in Golden. Emily Knight stepped up in Salt Lake City by way of 13 kills on .524 hitting. Since the series started in 2015, the Orediggers have swept Westminster six times with three four-set wins and one five-set showdown. The last time the Griffins took a set off the Orediggers was Sept. 18, 2021 in Salt Lake City.
 
SCOUTING COLORADO MESA
There's no way around it, Colorado Mesa is a force to be reckoned with this season. The Mavericks are unbeaten at 11-0 overall with a 3-0 mark in RMAC play. Eight of those wins have come in straight sets including CMU's last five victories. The Mavericks have not dropped a set since defeating Fresno Pacific in four in Grand Junction on Sept. 8. Cal Poly Humboldt also took CMU to four sets that same weekend. One five-set affair appears on Mesa's resume. That was a showdown with Findlay at Mines' own Oredigger Classic. Individually, the list of performers is long as evidenced by CMU sweeping the RMAC Player of the Week awards for two straight weeks. Sydney Leffler and Savannah Spitzer are the names that grab the spotlight on offense. Leffler owns 161 kills at a clip of 4.35 kills per set. Spitzer has 109 kills on .403 hitting. Sabrina VanDeList is making her case as the top setter in the conference and region with 11.97 assists per set. She also has 13 service aces. Spitzer is also a force on defense, with 26 blocks. Allison Waller manages the back row and has 152 digs at 4.47 digs per set to show for her efforts.
 
MINES AGAINST THE MAVERICKS
The Orediggers are 22-45-1 in the all-time series against Colorado Mesa which dates back to 1976. However, since both teams transitioned from NAIA to NCAA Division II in 1992, Mines has kept it much closer with a mark of 19-23. The Orediggers dropped their last meeting with CMU which snapped a three-match win streak for Mines. The loss was in straight sets on Oct. 29, 2022, in Grand Junction. Over the last 10 meetings, the Orediggers hold a 6-4 advantage while sitting 13-7 since 2008. Mines did defeat Colorado Mesa in the spring of 2020 on the way to winning the RMAC Tournament title. The Orediggers did so in straight sets on CMU's home floor. Mines won the next two meetings in the fall of 2021, 3-0 and 3-2. It is notable that Mines' coach Magalei and Colorado Mesa's skipper Dave Fleming are the top-two active coaches in the conference in terms of total wins.
 
SHE'S THE BOSS
Head Coach Jamie Magalei enters her 16th season leading the Mines volleyball program in 2023. She is easily the program's all-time leader in total wins and win percentage at 345-113 (.753). As of Aug. 30, 2023, her winning percentage ranks inside the top-20 among active coaches in NCAA Division II, and her total wins are top-50 in the same category. Additionally, her current winning percentage is top-25 all-time in DII. Magalei surpassed 300 career wins in 2021. She's one of six to reach the milestone while coaching in the RMAC. Through 2022, Magalei has coached 31 all-America selections, three Academic All-Americans, and 63 all-conference performers. Her resume also includes three Regional Players of the Year, two Regional Freshmen of the Year, and 16 RMAC major award winners. Magalei has guided Mines to six RMAC regular-season championships, and five RMAC Tournament titles with 13 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. The North Dakota native also guided the Orediggers to either a conference regular-season or tournament title every season from 2012-21 including a sweep of both in 2015.
 
FEELING 22
Thanks to the leadership of Coach Magalei and the outstanding performance from numerous signing classes, Mines has posted 10 consecutive 20-win seasons. That does not include the spring of 2021 which only featured 15 total matches. In fact, the Orediggers' lowest win total since 2012 was 22 in 2022. Since taking over in 2008, Magalei's teams have won at least 19 matches in every full-length season.
 
UP NEXT
Mines continues its road trip closer to home with a match against #8-ranked MSU Denver at Colorado Christian on Friday, Sept. 29. The Orediggers also face CCU in Lakewood, Colo., on Saturday, Sept. 30. Free live video on the RMAC Network and free live stats will be linked 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.