GOLDEN, Colo. – The Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team opened its 2026 campaign Thursday night with a 3-1 victory against Cal Poly Humboldt while also beginning the Oredigger Volleyball Classic at Lockridge Arena.
Mines used solid defense, a fierce service attack, and the work of middle blocker
Jenna McLaughlin, outside hitter
Naomi Romslo, and right side
Cadence McDonald to get the win. McLaughlin went for 13 kills on .423 hitting while adding two blocks. Romslo posted 12 kills on .300 hitting with four service aces, three digs, and two blocks. McDonald added 10 kills while attacking at a .429 clip.
Abbie O'Shay had four block assists and true-freshman setter
Kaiya Gilbert added three block assists to help on defense. Additionally, in the back row,
Francesca Nuzzo and
Avery Perreira came up with eight digs each.
Sophia Davila enhanced the service game with her three aces to go along with two kills on .400 hitting and six digs. The freshman, Gilbert, put the icing on the cake with 33 assists, five digs, and one ace from the setter position.
As a team, Mines (1-0) hit .318 while holding Cal Poly Humboldt (0-1) to just .154 on the attack. Both teams were virtually even in kills, blocks, and assists. The Orediggers found their edge in the service game with 10 aces compared to five by the Lumberjacks. With the victory, Mines started 1-0 for a 13th consecutive season and for the 18th time in the last 19 years. Thursday also marked the first-ever meeting in volleyball between the Orediggers and Humboldt.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The evening included 32 ties and 12 lead changes. Action started with both teams swinging under .200 on the attack. Mines eventually pulled out a 25-22 win in the first frame thanks to McLaughlin's six kills on .455 hitting. In the second set, the Orediggers stayed the course and posted a .294 mark on offense while using two total blocks to stifle the Lumberjacks who were in the negative on offense. The result was a 25-15 win for the home team. The third set brought minimal defense from either side of the net as Humboldt hit .353 and Mines hit .364. After 11 ties and three lead changes, the visitors dodged a sweep with a 25-23 decision.
Seemingly done playing around, the Orediggers dominated what proved to be the final set. Mines notched 11 kills on 21 attempts with just one error for a team attack percentage of .476. Four service aces, including two off the hand of Davila helped the effort. The team balance truly came into focus as the defense provided 13 digs and two total blocks. That effort limited Cal Poly Humboldt to a .107 mark on offense and zero service aces in Mines' 25-15, match-clinching victory.
NOTABLES
- As hinted above, Mines is now 1-0 against Cal Poly Humboldt in the all-time series.
- Thursday marked the start of the 21st Oredigger Volleyball Classic.
- The 2026 event is once again sponsored by Marriott Denver West.
- Davila and Gilbert, along with
Caroline Walden made their collegiate volleyball debuts against Cal Poly Humboldt.
- Additionally,
Emily Rohrer played her first-ever match in a Mines uniform.
- Notable lines from the newcomers included Rohrer's 1.000 attack percentage, Walden's five digs with one kill, one ace, one block, and one assist, with Davila and Gilbert leading the way with their aforementioned match resumes.
- Nuzzo put on the libero uniform for the first time in her Oredigger career.
- Perreira went over 200 career digs Thursday.
- Mines Head Coach
Jamie Magalei is now 385-147 in her 19th season at the helm.
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines hosts Cal State Dominguez Hills and Flagler on Friday at 12 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., respectively, inside Lockridge Arena. Free live stats and video with a subscription to the RMAC Network will be available 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 follow all of Mines Athletics year around on Facebook, "X", and Instagram at @MinesAthletics.
