(2) #20 Mines (23-3, 12-2 RMAC) vs. (7) Colorado Christian (13-11, 8-6 RMAC) – Lockridge Arena – Tuesday, 6 p.m. [Tickets] [Live Stats] [RMAC Network] [Tournament Central] [Bracket]

---

TOURNEY TIME
The 2026 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Volleyball tournament has arrived, and Colorado School of Mines is hosting a first-round match as the #2 seed in the bracket. The Orediggers will face seventh-seeded Colorado Christian on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. inside Lockridge Arena in the quarterfinal. The winner advances to Friday's semifinal while the loser goes home and either starts the offseason or awaits the NCAA selection show.
 
GET YOUR TICKETS
Ticketing for the RMAC tournament is cashless and provided through the conference's ticketing partner Hudl. Fans should purchase tickets online in advance through the RMAC's ticketing website. If fans don't purchase in advance, they will still have to go online to get their tickets. The price for single-match admission for adults is $16 which includes a $1 service fee. Kids ages 6-17, adults over 65, and military members get in for $11. Mines and Colorado Christian students get in free by showing their student ID. Children under the age of six get in free.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Tuesday's match will stream exclusively on the RMAC Network (pay-per-view) with play-by-play provided by Noah Syverson. There will also be free live statistics which are linked above.
 
RMAC NETWORK
The RMAC Network continues to have a pay-per-view model for all events. Fans can purchase monthly and annual subscriptions that will provide them access to all regular-season, championship, and archived broadcasts on the RMAC Network. A monthly subscription costs $25, and an annual subscription costs $130. Single-game passes are available for $12.50, which grants access to a single game for 24 hours. Additionally, there is a RMAC Championship Day Pass available for $15 which permits access to all championship broadcasts for 24 hours. For technical support questions, fans can contact Hudl Support or email the RMAC directly (rmac@rmacsports.org). For further support, fans can visit the RMAC Network Help page.
 
THE BRACKET
This week's conference tournament bracket features eight teams in a single-elimination format. First-round matches are hosted by the four highest seeds. The semifinals and final will take place on Friday and Saturday at the highest remaining seed. Top-seeded MSU Denver is hosting Adams State at 6 p.m. Second-seeded Mines gets Colorado Christian in Golden. Third-seeded Colorado Mesa welcomes Fort Lewis to Grand Junction for a 7 p.m. match. Fourth-seeded UCCS and fifth-seeded South Dakota Mines round out the bracket with a showdown in Colorado Springs. If the Orediggers beat the Cougars, they'll play the winner between Colorado Mesa and Fort Lewis.
 
HOW IT WAS MADE
The top seed and regular-season title went MSU Denver after the Roadrunners went 13-1 in RMAC play. Their only loss was to Colorado Mesa. Mines and CMU tied at 12-2, but the Orediggers won the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Mavericks. The fourth seed was uncontested for UCCS which went 11-3. The same was true for SDM at 9-5. Fort Lewis played its way to the sixth seed by defeating CSU Pueblo on the last night of the regular season. Colorado Christian dropped to the seventh seed due to its regular-season loss to FLC. Adams State clinched a berth early, but dropped all the way to #8 after falling at MSU Denver and UCCS on the final weekend of conference play.
 
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Tuesday will mark Mines' 17th appearance in the RMAC tournament in the last 19 seasons. Under Head Coach Jamie Magalei and Mines Assistant Coach Heather Dewhirst, the Orediggers have won five tournament titles including three straight from 2019-21. Mines' RMAC tournament record is 24-11 with Magalei at the helm. Since 2015, the Orediggers are 18-4 in the league's postseason. Mines' seeding breakdown includes one #6 seed, two #5 seeds, four #4 seeds, one #3 seed, five #2 seeds, and four #1 seeds. The Orediggers won their first RMAC tournament as the top seed in 2015. Last season, Mines earned the fourth seed on tiebreakers with Colorado Mesa, but eventually fell to the Mavericks in five thrilling sets at Lockridge Arena.
 
PERUSING THE FIELD
Overall, Mines went a combined 8-2 against the rest of the teams in the bracket. That record includes conference pod play which didn't count toward the RMAC standings. The Orediggers' only two losses to league tournament teams came against MSU Denver and UCCS on the first weekend of conference play. Mines later avenged its loss to the Roadrunners with a 3-0 victory during pod play. The Orediggers also swept Adams State, Colorado Christian twice, Fort Lewis, and Colorado Mesa twice. Mines' biggest challenge in the regular season was a five-set win at South Dakota Mines.
 
SCOUTING COLORADO CHRISTIAN
Colorado Christian started its season at Mines' Oredigger Volleyball Classic where the Cougars went 2-1. They hovered around .500 for most of the season before closing October with five consecutive wins. That streak started with a home sweep of UCCS. Most recently, CCU fell in five sets at Fort Lewis and in four sets at Western Colorado. Individually, Krista Traynor is the Cougars' biggest weapon. She plays all six rotations as a setter in the back row and outside hitter in the front row. That has led to four triple-doubles for the senior which ranks #3 in the nation. Overall, Traynor touts 158 kills, 729 assists, 34 service aces, 259 digs, and 38 total blocks. Sienna Thatcher leads the team with 263 kills and has 29 aces as well. Allie Allen averages 3.38 digs per set. Ana Aguilar touts 62 total blocks. The Cougars hit .204 as a team which matches their opponents combined attack percentage.
 
OREDIGGERS AGAINST THE COUGARS
Mines owns a 47-27 advantage in the all-time series against Colorado Christian which includes two 3-0 wins earlier this season. Cadence McDonald put down 10 kills during the regional pod in Lakewood, with Jenna McLaughlin and Abbie O'Shay providing four blocks each. In the RMAC meeting in Golden, Naomi Romslo went for 11 kills and McLaughlin posted six total blocks. Those wins gave the Orediggers a modest four-match win streak against CCU. The last time the Cougars beat Mines in Golden was 2024. The Orediggers haven't played Colorado Christian in the conference tournament since Nov. 16, 2012, in the semifinals in golden. Mines won that match in four sets.
 
RECORD WIN STREAK
Mines closed the regular season last weekend by breaking the program record for consecutive wins. Sweeps of Chadron State and Regis pushed the Orediggers to 16 straight victories. The previous record was 15 set at the end of the 2013 regular season. Friday's 3-0 decision over the Eagles featured 12 kills from Naomi Romslo on .345 hitting. Kaiya Gilbert hammered down three service aces on CSC as well. On Saturday against Regis, Caroline Walden and Jenna McLaughlin combined for 22 kills with both players hitting over .500. McLaughlin also had six total blocks as the Orediggers hit .374 as a team.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Mines improved to #20 in last week's AVCA-Taraflex Division II Poll put together by the American Volleyball Coaches' Association. The Orediggers' jumped two spots from #22, making it three straight weeks of improvement in the national polls. Mines is still the only RMAC team in the top 25. Angelo State is the only other ranked team in the region at #5. Colorado Mesa, Dallas Baptist, and MSU Denver are all receiving votes.
 
NPI RANKINGS
The NCAA Power Index (NPI) rankings have been updating daily since last Monday. Mines remains firmly second in the South Central Region and sit #13 overall. The remaining top eight in the region in seeding order are Angelo State, Dallas Baptist, Colorado Mesa, MSU Denver, UT Tyler, South Dakota Mines, and St. Edward's. The winners of the RMAC and Lone Star Conference (LSC) tournaments will earn automatic qualification with six more selected from the NPI rankings as at-large teams. Currently, UCCS and Texas A&M-Kingsville are on the outside looking in at #9 and #10 in the region.
 
MAGALEI'S MILESTONE
The Orediggers' win at Westminster on Oct. 16 marked the 400th career victory for Mines Head Coach Jamie Magalei. She's the only active coach in the RMAC with more than 400 career wins. With a career record of 407-150, the North Dakota native continues to rank top-20 among all active coaches in NCAA Division II in winning percentage and top-40 in the same group for total wins. The 100th career win of Magalei's career came on Nov. 3, 2012, in a five-set thriller at MSU Denver. She reached 200 in four sets on Oct. 29, 2016, on Senior Night against Regis. Win 300 for Magalei was Sept., 16, 2021. That was also a four-set victory against Regis.
 
AT THE HELM
The 2026 season marks the 19th with Jamie Magalei at the helm for Mines volleyball. She's the program's all-time leader in total wins (407-150) and win percentage (.731) by a large margin. Magalei is also the longest-tenured and winningest head coach among current RMAC skippers. Furthermore, the North Dakota native entered the 2026 season ranked 18th in winning percentage and 38th in total wins among active DII head coaches. She surpassed 300 career wins in 2021 and 400 career wins earlier this season at Westminster. She was one of six skippers to reach 300 wins while coaching in the RMAC. Through the 2025 season, Magalei has coached 32 all-America selections, three CSC Academic All-Americans, and 72 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) and 14 overall. She 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.
 
MAGALEI LEADS THE RMAC
As referenced above, Mines Head Coach Jamie Magalei is the longest-tenured and winningest head coach among current RMAC skippers. At 407-150 (.731) overall, she's over 200 wins ahead of Grayson DuBose at Black Hills State who is just in his second season at BHSU but his 16th overall. Magalei's also more than 200 wins ahead of Colorado Christian's Bobby Blanken who entered his 10th season at CCU with 192 victories. Regis' Joel List is also entering his 10th season at Regis which ties him and Blanken for the second-longest tenure in the RMAC among active head coaches.
 
UP NEXT
If Mines wins on Tuesday, the Orediggers will play the winner between Colorado Mesa and Fort Lewis – either at MSU Denver or in Golden. If Mines loses on Tuesday, the Orediggers await the NCAA selection show to see if they advance to the national postseason.
 
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.