Mines volleyball goes 4-0 on the weekend

The Lady Orediggers returned to the court last weekend, taking on Incarnate Word, Arkansas-Fort Smith, Dallas Baptist, and Tarleton State. The Orediggers swept their first two matches Friday, dominating Incarnate Word by scores of 25-19, 25-14 and 25-22, and getting the job done 25-20, 25-23 and 25-20 against Arkansas-Fort Smith. Mines had great contributions offensively from senior Jackie Stabell who defended her RMAC preseason player status, totaling 26 kills Friday evening. Senior Anna Padget-Shields totaled 19 kills, and sophomore Sarah Pekarek totaled 17. On defense, Hannah Margheim led the team Friday with 23 digs.

Mines ended their sweeping streak Saturday afternoon, but beat Dallas Baptist 3-1. Dallas Baptist grabbed the first game of the series and ended it with a score of 25-20. But Mines rebounded well, and with great defense, took the second game 25-12. Led offensively by Stabell and Holly Hutchinson, the Orediggers finished off the series with scores of 25-20 and 25-18. Stabell and Hutchinson had 14 and 13 kills respectively. Freshman Danielle Johnson-Hazlewood made her mark defensively, going for 14 digs.

On Saturday evening, the volleyball squad finished up their perfect weekend at Lockridge Arena by beating Tarleton State 3-0. Mines had no trouble sweeping Tarleton, winning each match game by a margin of at least 5 points. Mines got off to an early lead the first game, and kept pace with Tarleton the rest of the way despite some serving troubles, winning the game 25-20. In both games two and three, Mines was neck-in-neck with Tarleton during the first halves, but towards the ends of the games, the Mines offense propelled the team forward to close out the series and the weekend. Jackie Stabell was again an offensive star all weekend, posting 11 kills versus Tarleton, and totaling 56 kills all weekend.

With the 4-0 weekend, Mines takes the lead in the RMAC settings, also tied with CSU-Pueblo, Adams State, and Colorado Christian.

Mines takes on Abilene Christian next on September 7, looking to continue their early success in the 2012 Colorado Premier Challenge.