DURANGO, Colo. – A big block from UCCS doomed the Oredigger volleyball team Friday evening as Mines fell to the Mountain Lions in four sets at Fort Lewis as part of the RMAC Power Pod.
There were still plenty of highlights in the box score as
Jenna McLaughlin tied the match high with 14 kills on .357 hitting. She also had two blocks and three digs.
Amanda Donais Dudley churned out a 12-kill, 11-dig double-double while hitting .300.
Hailee Martinez provided another double-double with her 40 assists and 10 digs. Also notable were 16 digs from
Jada Price,
Francesca Nuzzo's 13 digs and two aces, and
Naomi Romslo's 12 kills with nine digs.
With the loss, Mines (16-5) saw its five-match winning streak come to an end. Meanwhile, UCCS (20-2) extended its run to eight consecutive wins. The Mountain Lions earned the victory behind 14 blocks as a team. In comparison, the Orediggers only had four blocks. However, Mines finished with more points, kills, aces, assists, and digs. Neither team cracked a .200 hitting percentage. The match did not count against the conference standings.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Mines rallied from an early deficit in the opening set, and even had the score tied at 24. In the end, a block and a kill by UCCS clinched the 26-24 score despite Donais Dudley's five kills and Martinez's five digs. That led to a second set which proved to be all Orediggers. They led from start to finish and evened the match with a 25-17 win. McLaughlin knocked down four error-free kills, Nuzzo notched two aces, and Price stacked six digs. However, the Mountain Lions pulled away from a 22-22 tie in game three for a 25-22 win and ran away in the fourth set, 25-15. Mines' highlights down the stretch were nine digs by Nuzzo in the third set, along with 11 combined kills by Romslo and McLaughlin. Martinez also posted 15 assists in the frame. The final set didn't produce many mentionable performances for the Orediggers.
NOTABLES
- Mines still holds a 33-26 advantage in the all-time series against UCCS.
- The last time the Mountain Lions won two straight matches against the Orediggers was 2011-12.
- Friday's contest was part of the RMAC Power Pod which was designed to improve NCAA tournament selection and seeding.
- Donais Dudle now boasts 28 double-doubles as an Oredigger.
- Martinez owns 19 collegiate double-doubles including 10 in a Mines uniform.
- Romslo finished Friday with a career high in attacks (41) and digs (9).
- Mines Head Coach
Jamie Magalei is now 379-144 in her 18th season at the helm.
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines faces Fort Lewis on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Durango, Colo. 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.
