GOLDEN -- The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs volleyball team will enter the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament with a little momentum thanks to a 3-0 (30-21, 30-26, 30-26) victory over the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers Saturday evening at Lockridge Arena.

Brooke Akers and Heidi Fehringer each had 16 kills to lead the Mountain Lions, who hit .331. Diane Sheldon added 13 kills, while Jessica Stewart and Cortney Weedman had 31 and 23 assists respectively.

The Mountain Lions' final 16-3 RMAC record (18-10 overall) was, by a wide margin, the best in school history. The previous best was 12-7 in 2005.

The No. 3-seeded Mountain Lions will open the Rocky Mountain Athletic conference tournament against No. 6-seeded Mesa State on Friday at noon. No. 1 seed Nebraska-Kearney will host the tournament.

But while qualifying for the RMAC Tournament for the third consecutive year is exciting, UCCS has an even bigger prize within reach. The Mountain Lions entered the week ranked No. 3 in the Southwest Region and, barring an epic change in the rankings, should qualify for the regional tournament for the first time.

Nicole Leeper had 16 kills to lead the Orediggers (11-20, 6-13 RMAC).

Two kills by Lauren Orth helped UCCS open the first game 6-1. Mines was able to get within four on three occasions, but no closer as the Mountain Lions took a 30-21 decision.

The Orediggers took their first lead of the match at 1-0 in Game 2 and held it again at 2-1. UCCS then went on a 9-4 run behind four kills and a service ace by Akers and never trailed the rest of the way. Mines was able to creep to within three with a late rally but couldn't finish the comeback.

The Mountain Lions again led wire-to-wire in the third game thanks to six kills by Fehringer and five by Sheldon.