HAYWARD, Calif. – The Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team went 1-1 Friday at the Cal State East Bay Invitational thanks to a five-set win against Northern Michigan before a five-set loss to the hosts.
Naomi Romslo,
Jenna McLaughlin, and
Caroline Walden all surpassed 20 kills for the day. Romslo finished boasting 28 kills along with four blocks, two aces, and eight digs. McLaughlin turned in 24 blocks on .322 hitting while chipping in 13 total blocks. Walden's marathon day included 23 kills on .310 hitting. She also had 20 digs and three total blocks. On defense,
Abbie O'Shay joined McLaughlin in double-digit blocks, registering eight block assists and two solo stuffs.
Francesca Nuzzo churned out 4.10 digs per set as well. Setter
Kaiya Gilbert produced a resume for the day featuring 9.50 assists per set, three kills on .300 hitting, 17 digs, four total blocks, and four service aces.
Avery Perreira also had four service aces.
Mines (6-1) finished the day touting a .235 attack percentage. In comparison, Northern Michigan (3-4) and Cal State East Bay (1-4) combined for a .179 attack percentage. The Orediggers finished Friday boasting 14 service aces and 24 total blocks as well. Their block total came out to 2.40 blocks per set while NMU and CSUEB posted a 1.70 bps mark.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The very first match of the day at the CSUEB Invitational was an absolute slugfest. There were 36 ties and 17 lead changes across five sets. In the opening frame, Northern Michigan hit .357 and Mines hit .303. The result was a 25-22 win for the Wildcats despite nine combined kills from Walden, Romslo, and Davila. Extra points in the second set pushed the Orediggers to edge of being swept after NMU won 30-28. Then, Mines' comeback began.
Walden exploded for four kills on .600 hitting in the third set, and O'Shay produced four total blocks in the Orediggers' 25-23 win. The fourth frame featured five kills off the hand of Romslo. That fueled Mines' 25-18 win after CSUEB hit converted at just .206 on the attack. In the fifth set, the Oredigger offense exploded and hammered out nine kills on 16 attempts with just one error which equaled a .474 attack percentage. It proved good enough for a 15-9 victory and a match win.
Mines' second game of the day was another grind, but it didn't go the Orediggers' way. Cal State East Bay claimed the first frame, 25-18. It was the closest set of the afternoon with five ties and two lead changes. Mines bounced back with a 25-17 win in the second set thanks to McLaughlin's five error-free kills. The Orediggers struck again in set three, winning 25-21 behind O'Shay's four kills on nine attempts with no errors. However, the home team grabbed the fourth set, 25-23, and ran away in the fifth set, 15-8, to steal the 3-2 win.
NOTABLES
- Mines is 1-0 in the all-time series against Northern Michigan.
- The Orediggers fell to 1-1 against Cal State East Bay.
- Mines matched its best start to a season in program history at 6-0.
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Sophia Davila had career highs against NMU in kills and digs.
- Gilbert, a true freshman, posted collegiate bests against Cal State East Bay in assists and aces.
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Cadence McDonald had a career-best five blocks during Friday's finale.
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Olivia Murillo notched the second kill of her career during the match with Northern Michigan.
- Nuzzo walked away from Friday's finale with a double-double including a career-high 12 assists.
- Perrieira's trio of service aces matched her career high for a fourth time.
- Romslo's 15 kills against NMU were her most in a single match at the collegiate level.
- Walden, a true freshman, posted an 11-kill, 14-dig double-double Friday evening.
- Mines Head Coach
Jamie Magalei is now 390-148 in her 19th season at the helm.
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines closes its trip to California Saturday with a 10:30 a.m. PT match against Westmont. Live coverage links 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.
