Mines (5-10, 2-3 RMAC) vs. South Dakota Mines (9-6, 4-1 RMAC) – Lockridge Arena – Friday, 7 p.m. [Live Stats] [Live Video]
Mines (5-10, 2-3 RMAC) vs. Black Hills State (4-12, 0-6 RMAC) – Lockridge Arena – Saturday, 5 p.m. [Live Stats] [Live Video]
Mines (5-10, 2-3 RMAC) vs. #2 MSU Denver (14-1, 5-0 RMAC) – Lockridge Arena – Tuesday, 7 p.m. [Live Stats] [Live Video]

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HOMESTAND BEGINS
The Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team took a quick road trip to New Mexico Highlands last weekend. This weekend, the Orediggers return to Lockridge Arena to start a five-match homestand. They'll host South Dakota Mines on Friday at 7 p.m. Black Hills State comes to town on Saturday for a 5 p.m. match. Then, #2 MSU Denver makes the short trip to Golden for a midweek showdown on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The tail end of the homestand will take place Friday, Oct. 25, and Saturday, Oct. 26. It marks Mines' final home matches of the regular season and a perfect chance to end its four-match skid.
 
GET YOUR TICKETS
Fans are encouraged to purchase digital tickets or print tickets at home ahead of each match by going to www.minesathletics.com/tickets. That being said, tickets can be purchased at the door. Adults are $10, children, seniors, and military are $5. Mines faculty, staff, and students get in free with their Blaster Card. Additionally, children age 11 and under are free. 
 
LIVE COVERAGE
All three matches will be streamed live and for free on the RMAC Network at www.minesathletics.com/tv. Additionally, Kienan Dixon will provide play-by-play commentary. There will also be free live stats for each match linked on the Orediggers' schedule page at www.minesathletics.com.
 
NATIONAL PIZZA MONTH
On Friday, Mines will help celebrate National Pizza Month by providing free pizza to Oredigger students at the door. The slices will be provided by proud partner of Mines Athletics, Fat Sully's Pizza located in downtown Golden at the corner of Washington and 11th.
 
PROFESSOR APPRECIATION NIGHT
Tuesday night brings Oredigger volleyball's annual Professor Appreciation night. All of Mines faculty and staff are invited to attend and receive free admission with their blaster card. Over 20 previously invited faculty will be recognized on the court during starting lineups.
 
NEW RULES
Collegiate volleyball implemented multiple changes to the rules for the 2024 season. Two of the changes will be most noticeable to fans. Teams are now allowed to designate two liberos for each set, if they so choose. Liberos are defensive players who play only in the back row, have rules against leaving the ground to attack, and substitute differently than other players. While teams can designate two liberos, only one of designees can be in the match at any given time. The change opens options for strategy in service and serve receive. The second notable change applies to the setters. Previously, setters, and other players, had to make sure both hands hit the ball at the same time or be called for a double touch (ball handling error). Now, the setter, and other players, can double touch as long as the set does not go over the net.
 
MAGALEI HONORED BY ALMA MATER
Colorado School of Mines Volleyball Head Coach Jamie Magalei has accumulated numerous accolades during her 17 seasons at the helm. This fall, she's added another honor to her resume. The University of North Dakota, where Magalei played as Jamie Skadeland from 2001-04, announced the Mines head lady as the 2024 recipient of the school's Tom Clifford Award. The Clifford Award, established to honor former UND President Thomas J. Clifford, recognizes the UND alum who serves as an athletics coach at the high school or collegiate level and has been notable successful in their sport. With over 350 career wins at Mines, Magalei has certainly displayed notable success as she ranks top-25 among active coaches in NCAA Division II. She was an exceptional player as well, still ranking eighth all-time at UND in career assists (2,791), fourth all-time in single-season assists (1,417), and is one of only 20 individuals to post 1,000 digs in program history. Magalei also helped North Dakota reach the national tournament in 2002 and 2003 – the first appearances in program history.
 
FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
So far in 2024, Mines has used 17 Orediggers in match action. Of those 17 student-athletes, eight are true freshmen and nine had never played in a NCAA volleyball match prior to this season. Taylor Helms and Jenna McLaughlin are fueling the youth movement. Helms has 130 kills and 33 total blocks, both ranking second on the team. McLaughlin boasts 103 kills and 54 total blocks. In the back row, Avery Perreira and Olivia Murillo have seen time at libero resulting in 218 combined digs. Perreira's owns eight service aces too. Furthermore, Brinleigh Davis has seen significant time at setter and dished out 304 assists with 60 digs, 19 total blocks, nine kills and two aces. Additional contributions to the explosion of Oredigger youth have come from Ava Swan, Layla Padgett, and Emma Dunwoody.
 
HEARTBREAK AT HIGHLANDS
The Orediggers played just one match last weekend. It was a Friday showdown at New Mexico Highlands in Las Vegas, N.M. Mines took a 2-0 lead in the match thanks to set wins of 25-20 and 25-11. However, the Cowgirls used a 9-0 run to steal game three and eked out a 26-24 victory in the fourth frame. The home team completed the reverse sweep and handed the Orediggers their fourth straight loss with a 15-11 margin in the fifth set. Taylor Helms provided a bright spot for Mines in the loss. She knocked down 21 kills on .419 hitting. Jenna McLaughlin was big as well, hitting over .500 on the way to nine kills. Hannah Kinnison, Jada Price, Olivia Murillo, and Brinleigh Davis all posted double-digit digs. Davis made it a double-double performance by adding 40 assists. It marked the Orediggers' first loss to NMHU since 2004.
 
SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA MINES
South Dakota Mines went 4-4 in non-conference play to start the 2024 campaign. Since then, the Hardrockers are 5-2 (4-1 RMAC). Their RMAC Regional Pod, two non-conference matches against conference opponents, saw SDM fall in five sets to Chadron State before sweeping Black Hills State. South Dakota Mines returned to conference play last weekend with one match against Fort Lewis. The Hardrockers won in four sets and retained sole possession of fourth place in the league standings. Also notable for SDM was a 3-0 home win over Regis to start conference play 1-0. Individually, Alessandra Meoni leads the Hardrockers' offense, touting 230 kills (4.04 kps) on .307 hitting. She benefits greatly from Kiley Metzger's 9.54 assists per set. Hannah Benes boasts 32 service aces, and her 266 digs anchor a defense that ranks #19 in the nation in digs per set. Kiera Walsh and Meoni have combined for 84 total blocks.
 
OREDIGGERS AGAINST THE HARDROCKERS
Colorado School of Mines owns a 10-5 advantage in the rivalry with South Dakota Mines. Three of those five losses came from 1986-93, long before the Hardrockers joined the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Last season, SDM grabbed another win off Colorado School of Mines. It was a four-set decision in Rapid City, S.D. Emma Smithey knocked down eight kills and hit .300 in that match while racking up nine digs and two total blocks. Jada Price totaled 21 digs and Presley Powell posted a 39-assist, 10-dig double-double. Prior to the loss in 2023, the Orediggers had won five straight against the Hardrockers. The Colorado squad remains 8-2 in their last 10 meetings with South Dakota Mines. The Orediggers haven't lost to SDM in Golden since 2019 – a five-set thriller on Oct. 5.
 
SCOUTING BLACK HILLS STATE
Black Hills State started its season 3-1, hosting its own Yellowjacket Invitational. Since then, the ladies from Spearfish, S.D., have struggled mightily, going 1-11 overall with an 0-6 mark in RMAC play. They hosted Fort Lewis and Western Colorado last Friday and Saturday, respectively. Both matches went to the visitors in four sets. Black Hills State, under the weight of a nine-match losing streak, starts the upcoming weekend with a trip to #2 MSU Denver before coming to Golden on Saturday. As a team, BHSU does rank 36th in the nation in digs per set. Individually, that effort is led by Ellie Thomas and Brooke Miller who both are over 200 digs on the season. On offense, Brooke Miller, Abigail Renner, and Emily Freeland each tout triple-digit kills. The highest attack percentage on the team belongs to Jaeda Davis-Golliher at .267. Sydnie Tuioti-Mariner has 390 assists. The aforementioned Thomas owns 23 service aces.
 
MINES AGAINST THE YELLOW JACKETS
The Orediggers are 16-1 in the all-time series against Black Hills State. Their only loss was a 3-0 decision in the first-ever meeting between the two teams on Oct. 24, 1992. Since the premier of the rivalry, Mines has swept the Yellow Jackets 11 times and taken five four-set decisions from BHSU. The two programs have never played a five-set match. Last season's meeting took place in Spearfish, S.D. The Orediggers won, 3-1, thanks in large part to 22 combined kills off the hands of Naomi Romslo and Allison Jansen. Romslo hit .400 in the winning effort. Additional contributions came by way of Presley Powell's 57 assists, four total blocks by Jansen, and 20 combined digs for Jada Price and Renata Bolado Corona. The last time Mines dropped a set to Black Hills State in Golden was Oct. 4, 2019.
 
SCOUTING MSU DENVER
Metropolitan State University Denver continues to run red-hot. The Roadrunners are 14-1 (5-0 RMAC) and ranked #2 in the nation. They will put their eight-match win streak on the line Friday and Saturday against Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines. Their only loss this season was to then #13-ranked Chaminade at the Colorado Premier Challenge. Since that falter, MSU Denver has swept Colorado Christian, Westminster, Colorado Christian (again), and New Mexico Highlands. The Roadrunners took 3-1 decisions from Chadron State, then #18 Colorado Mesa, and Mines. They played one five-set thriller against then #5 Concordia-St. Paul. A bevy of all-star performers are led by Riley Anderson. She has 180 kills on .325 hitting with 30 total blocks and 11 service aces. Also notable is Annika Helf who touts 147 kills on .342 hitting with 20 service aces. MSU Denver's defense, which ranks #4 in the nation in blocks per set, is anchored by Alyssa Boyte's 68 total blocks, Kryssa Moerman's 66 total blocks, and Maddy Williams' 57 total blocks. Abbie McCrimmon owns 193 digs. It's also worth mentioning that the Roadrunners are #2 in the nation in team hitting percentage.
 
MINES AGAINST THE ROADRUNNERS
The Orediggers and MSU Denver already played once in 2024 as part of the RMAC Regional Pod which did not count in the conference standings. Mines hosted the Roadrunners at Lockridge Arena and fell in four sets to the visitors. That dropped the Orediggers to 21-70 in the all-time series against MSU Denver and marked the Roadrunners fifth straight win over Mines. It also marked MSU Denver's first win against the Orediggers inside Lockridge Arena since 2018 and the first Roadrunner win over Mines in Lockridge Arena during the regular season since 2015. No match between the Orediggers and Roadrunners has ended in straight sets since 2015. The 18 matches since that time have included eight five-set thrillers. Mines has won three of those marathon matches including the 2021 RMAC Volleyball Tournament championship showdown at MSU Denver on Nov. 20, 2021.
 
AT THE HELM
Head Coach Jamie Magalei is in her 17th season leading the Mines volleyball program in 2024. She is easily the program's all-time leader in total wins and win percentage at 359-132 (.731). Entering the 2024 season, her winning percentage ranked inside the top-20 among active coaches in NCAA Division II, and her total wins were top-50 in the same category. Additionally, her winning percentage entering 2024 ranked 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 2023, Magalei has coached 31 all-America selections, three Academic All-Americans, and 65 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 from 2009-22 (no NCAA tournament in 2020). 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.
 
DID YOU KNOW?
Current Colorado School of Mines Associate Athletic Director for External Relations Tiffany McCampbell used to be the volleyball head coach at South Dakota Mines. McCampbell (née Mastin) was head lady for the Hardrockers from 2009-14. Her tenure included one of the most successful seasons in program history when she guided then South Dakota School of Mines & Technology to a 27-5 record as an NCAA Division II independent (no conference affiliation) program. McCampbell helped the Hardrockers to 79 wins during her time at the helm. Her final season in 2014 was South Dakota Mines' last before joining the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. McCampbell did face off against Colorado School of Mines and Oredigger Head Coach Jamie Magalei (née Skadeland) in 2012. The match was in Golden and the Orediggers won in four sets.
 
UP NEXT
After hosting South Dakota Mines, Black Hills State, and MSU Denver, Colorado School of Mines will close its regular-season home slate with matches against CSU Pueblo and Adams State on Oct. 25 and Oct. 26, respectively. Both matches will feature free live streaming on the RMAC Network and live stats linked at www.minesathletics.com.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines volleyball on "X" (formerly 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, "X" and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.