LAS VEGAS, N.M. – The Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team claimed its first conference win of the season Friday with a 3-0 victory at New Mexico Highlands.
Jenna McLaughlin and
Naomi Romslo led a balanced attack with 10 kills apiece. McLaughlin had a .476 attack percentage and added three total blocks. Romslo touted four digs, three total blocks, and two service aces playing on the outside.
Francesca Nuzzo added 14 digs, three assists, and two service aces from the libero position.
Avery Perreira was right behind with 13 digs. Setter
Kaiya Gilbert put together a night featuring 34 assists, nine digs, two service aces, two blocks, and two kills. Also notable were four total blocks from
Sophia Davila.
Mines (8-3, 1-2 RMAC) won but one significant statistical category. The highlights were nine total blocks and six service aces. New Mexico Highlands (2-10, 0-4 RMAC) had more digs than the Orediggers but only hit .126 on offense. Mines handed the Cowgirls their 10th sweep of the season. Friday also marked the Orediggers' first true road win of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The start of the match was slightly delayed due to car troubles for the officiating crew. Once the match did start, it was all Orediggers. They scored first in the opening set and didn't look back. When New Mexico Highlands cut its deficit to 8-5, Romslo took over. She knocked down a kill, had an ace, assisted a Gilbert kill, and notched another ace as part of a modest 4-0 run which pushed Mines' lead to 12-5. Later in the set, Romslo accounted for nearly half of the final nine points and finished boasting five kills on .714 hitting. Perreira and Nuzzo added 10 combined digs to the 25-16 win as well.
The Cowgirls did their best to "clap back" in the second game. They did so by jumping out to a 7-2 lead. However, three straight kills off the hand of McLaughlin kept Mines in contention with the score sitting 7-5. New Mexico Highlands used its defense to keep the rest of the frame close. The home team racked up three total blocks and held the Orediggers to a .200 attack percentage. That production had NMHU tied with Mines at 20. In the end, Nuzzo sandwiched a pair of service aces around a Cowgirl timeout and made the score 23-20 in favor of Mines. Back-to-back kills by McDonald and McLaughlin closed out the 25-21 win and afforded the visitors a 2-0 lead in the match.
New Mexico Highlands kept the third set close most of the way. The Orediggers called a timeout with a 20-19 lead. Then, Romslo hammered down a kill off the pass from Nuzzo. Gilbert added back-to-back service aces as well. Romslo put down another kill to force set point at 24-19. There was no timeout from NMHU, but there was a 4-0 run by the home team, making the score 24-23. Mines called another timeout, gathered itself, and then closed out the set win, 25-23, and match win on a McDonald kill.
NOTABLES
- Mines improved to 37-29 in the all-time volleyball series against New Mexico Highlands.
- Since 2005, the Orediggers boast an 18-1 record against the Cowgirls.
- Friday marked Mines' fourth 3-0 win of the season.
- Gilbert went over 100 digs on the season and for her career at NMHU.
- McLaughlin also owns 100 career digs.
- Davila's four blocks in New Mexico were a career high.
- Mines Head Coach
Jamie Magalei is now 392-150 in her 19th season at the helm.
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines plays at Adams State on Saturday at 6 p.m.
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.
