DURANGO, Colo. – Oredigger libero Jada Price recorded the 1,000th dig of her college career Friday night as the Colorado School of Mines volleyball team ground out a five-set victory at Fort Lewis.
 
Price recorded 20 digs across five sets which put her at exactly 1,000 career digs. She also had four assists. Double-doubles from Amanda Donais Dudley and Hailee Martinez aided the gritty, winning effort. Donais Dudley posted 13 kills and 18 digs while adding three total blocks and a service ace. Martinez produced 46 assists, 11 digs, five aces, two kills, and two total blocks. Francesca Nuzzo was another back-row force for Mines, turning in 17 digs. Nuzzo had six kills, two service aces and three blocks as well. Abbie O'Shay and Morgan McChesney rounded out the Oredigger highlights. O'Shay's 10 kills and seven total blocks were critical. McChesney came off the bench and hammered out seven error-free kills on .636 hitting.
 
With the win, Mines (13-4, 4-3 RMAC) dropped Fort Lewis (12-5, 6-2 RMAC) from second to fourth in the conference standings. The Orediggers rose into a tie for sixth. An ugly offensive match was underscored by a .138 attack percentage for the visitors and a .063 mark for FLC. The Skyhawks made it as close as they did thanks to Alyx Daugherty's match-high 28 digs. In the end, Mines had significantly more points, kills, aces, blocks, and assists than Fort Lewis. The home team's shining star was a total of 82 digs. To date, the Orediggers have played a quartet of five-set matches and produced a 3-1 record in those affairs. Friday marked the Skyhawks' sixth five-set match of the season, and the decision dropped them to 3-3 in marathon affairs.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The night started with Mines hitting under .000 in the opening set. Even so, the Orediggers fell just shy in a 26-24 win for the home team. No Mines player had more than two kills. Price did churn out seven digs in the frame. Also notable was Nuzzo receiving 14 serves without committing an error. The late rally by the visitors built momentum and led to a second game where Mines hit .432 as a team to earn a 25-21 win and even the match. Six kills for Cadence McDonald and five by Donais Dudley fueled the victory. Another 25-21 margin after the intermission pushed the Orediggers to a 2-1 lead. Donais Dudley notched four more kills and Price posted six more digs.
 
In the back half of the match, momentum briefly fell off for the visitors, as evidenced by a .085 attack percentage in the fourth set. Despite the low hitting number, McChesney still gave the Orediggers six kills on nine attempts with no errors while Donais Dudley put in work with six digs. There were zero ties and zero lead changes in that fourth game, but the lull for Mines was short lived. After the final coinflip, the Orediggers absolutely dominated the decisive frame. O'Shay had three kills and three blocks. That production helped the visitors hit .412 as a team while holding Fort Lewis to a negative mark of .240 on the attack. Overall, Mines finished the fifth set boasting zero attack errors and four blocks as a team in the race to 15 points. O'Shay provided the match-clinching point off a set by Martinez.
 
NOTABLES
- Mines improved to 38-26 in the all-time series against Fort Lewis after losing its 21-match win streak last season.
- Friday represented the first five-set volleyball match between the Orediggers and Skyhawks since 1999.
- The last time Mines lost a five-setter to FLC was 1997.
- Price became the first Oredigger to reach 1,000 career digs since now-assistant coach Elle Duis did it during her career from 2018-22.
- Martinez posted a new career-high in service aces for the second time this season. She had matched her previous best of four against Colorado Christian on Sept. 30 before slamming down five at FLC.
- Martinez now boasts seven double-doubles as an Oredigger and 16 total in her college career.
- O'Shay's seven total blocks were a single-match best for the true freshman.
- Donais Dudley owns 26 double-doubles while wearing a Mines uniform.
- Mines Head Coach Jamie Magalei is now 376-143 in her 18th season at the helm. She has only lost to Fort Lewis once in 18 years.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines faces Western Colorado on Saturday in Gunnison, Colo., at 4 p.m. Free live stats will be available, as well as live video with a subscription to the RMAC Network.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines volleyball on "X" (formerly Twitter) at @minesvolleyball and on Instagram at @mines.volleyball. They can also follow all of Mines Athletics year around on Facebook, "X", and Instagram at @MinesAthletics.