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Jeff Foster - University Communications and Media Relations

PREVIEW | Volleyball Travels to Eagles, No. 12 Orediggers

10/26/2021 9:53:00 PM

THIS WEEK'S MATCHUPS
  • Coming off a four-match homestand, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs volleyball team will head North for a weekend road trip at Chadron State College and No. 12 Colorado School of Mines.  The Mountain Lions will start the weekend at CSC Friday night for a 6 p.m. match before heading back South to take on the Orediggers on Saturday at 5 p.m.
 
MATCH COVERAGE  
LAST TIME OUT
  • The Mountain Lions recorded a home split this past weekend against Colorado Mesa University (L, 3-1) and Westminster College (W, 3-1).
  • After facing a 2-0 set deficit to Colorado Mesa Friday night, UCCS rallied back to win set three but fell just shy in the fourth set, falling to the Mavericks by set scores of 12-25, 26-28, 25-19 and 17-25 inside Gallogly Events Center.
  • Lauryn Shockley and Maren Burkart paced the Mountain Lions, combining for 30 of UCCS' 55 kills.  Shockley finished with a team high 17 kills and a .282 hitting percentage as Burkhart hit .375 with 13 kills. Hannah Ammerman and Shockley each registered two aces.  Ammerman added eight kills, five assists, a team high 11 digs and a block.  Setter Emily Ettel charted 37 assists as the Mountain Lions hit .296 offensively (55 kills, 125 attempts).
  • On Saturday against WC, UCCS entered the fourth set with a 2-1 match lead and dominated Westminster in the fourth set, holding the Griffins to only 10 points (25-10).
  • Three Mountain Lions notched double digit kills as UCCS finished the night with 51 kills and a .254 hitting percentage.  Raegen Emery and Shockley tied for match high honors with 11 kills each while Ammerman added 10 kills and only one hitting error for a .375 attack percentage.  Shockley finished the match with a double-double as she dug up 12 attacks.  Jordyn Kinsey, Madison McIntosh,  Burkhart and Shockley each served up two aces and Ammerman added one more for nine aces on the night.  Ettel accounted for 38 of the Mountain Lions 45 set assists while assisting on two blocks.  Burkhart defended the net with five block assists as Grace Ferguson and Shockley each assisted on three.
 
RMAC RECORD/STANDINGS
  • MSU Denver maintains their lead on top of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and the No. 1 ranking in the AVCA Division II poll with an 18-2 overall record and 12-0 league mark.
  • Colorado School of Mines is tied with Colorado Mesa for third place in the league standings with a 10-2 RMAC record (17-3 overall).
  • UCCS is in a three-way tie for 10th place, joining South Dakota School of Mines and New Mexico Highlands University with a 3-9 overall record.
  • In a tie for 13th place are Chadron State, Black Hills State University and Westminster who are one match behind the Mountain Lions in conference games (2-10 RMAC). 
 
THE SERIES
  • Vs. Chadron State:  In 38 meetings since 1989, the Mountain Lions have won 26 matches (26-12) against the Eagles, including the last four matches and six of the last eight meetings.
  • Vs. Mines: The Orediggers hold a slight 27-25 all-time series advantage over UCCS and have won the last 14 matchups.  UCCS' last win over the Orediggers on their home court was a 3-0 victory on Sept. 15, 2012.
 
SCOUTING REPORT
  • CSC Eagles: Chadron State enters the weekend having played three of their last four matches on the road, including three teams in the top four of the RMAC standings: MSU Denver, Colorado School of Mines and Regis.  CSC has suffered a loss in eight of their last nine matches.  Their last win came at home in a five-set match against Adams State University on Oct. 9.
  • Amber Harvey leads the Eagles offense with 2.53 kills per set while teammate Aiyana Fujiyama is attacking the ball at a .255 rate with 108 kills.  The Eagles top setter, Audrey Bennett (4.44 assists per set) ranks seventh in the league with .38 aces per set, just ahead of teammate Olivia Moten-Schell with the 10th most aces in the RMAC (.31 per set).  Fujiyama is also a threat at the net, blocking a team high 61 assists.
  • As a team, the Eagles hold the fifth highest aces average in the RMAC, registering 1.8 per set (113 total) and the seventh most blocks (2.0 per set).  CSC is averaging nearly 10 kills per set (2.53) behind a .122 hitting mark.
  • CSM Orediggers: Colorado School of Mines is ranked No. 12 in this week's AVCA Division II poll, dropping five spots from last week's ranking after a 3-2 loss at Regis on Saturday.  The Orediggers own an 8-1 record at home and have the third best mark in the RMAC (10-2) and are 17-3 overall.
  • The Orediggers offensive attack is one of the strongest in the nation.  CSM leads Division II in hitting percentage (.319) and they rank fourth in Division II kills per set (14.68), while also leading the RMAC in assists per set (13.46) and total kills (1,057).
  • Taylor Hicken owns the fifth best hitting mark in Division II, putting the ball down at a .432 clip.  She ranks second in the RMAC in points (291.0), sixth in kills per set (3.36) and ninth in aces (27).  Averaging nearly three kills per set and hitting the ball at a .384 rate is Amanda Donais.  Her .384 hitting mark is the second highest in the RMAC while her 2.93 kills per set are the 10th highest.  Setting up the Orediggers attack is Drew Stokes who has the second most assists in Division II, averaging 11.68 assists per set.  Defensively, Mines is paced by Elle Duis' 4.40 digs per set (second in the RMAC) and Julia Eiken's team high 51 blocks.
 
HOT TAKES
  • UCCS enters the final stretch of the regular season playing four of the six matches on the road.
  • Jordyn Kinsey is currently sixth in digs in the career record books.  Kinsey has accounted for 1,295 digs in four seasons, and is 111 digs shy of fifth place, held by Kim Catlett (2012-15, 1,406 digs).  She needs 516 digs to become the all-time leader at UCCS, currently owned by Andrea Weedman (2004-07) with 1,811 career digs. 
  • Jordyn Kinsey's 245 total digs this season are the 13th most in the RMAC and her 3.18 digs per set rank 16th overall.
  • Shockley is ranked in the top half in the league in kills per set (fourth, 3.36), total kills (second, 259), attacks per set (fifth, 8.64), total attacks (fifth, 665) and points per set (fifth, 3.77).
  • Emily Ettel has tallied 9.16 assists per set and 522 total assists, ranking her sixth and seventh in the league, respectively.
  • UCCS is in the top half of the league in several categories, including hitting percentage (fifth, .211), kills (seventh, 950), assists per set (sixth, 10.97), total assists (seventh, and kills per set (sixth, 12.35).
 
UCCS UNDER HEAD COACH CHRISSY ELDER
  • Chrissy Elder is in her ninth season as the Head Coach for the University of Colorado Colorado Springs volleyball program in 2021 after seven consecutive RMAC Tournament appearances for the Mountain Lions.
  • Elder won her 100th match as head coach of the Mountain Lions, accomplishing the feat in a 3-2 home win over Texas A&M International on Friday, Sept. 10.  In nine seasons at UCCS, Elder owns a 104-121 record (.462), and she has a head coaching career record of 111-144 (.435) over 10 seasons.
  
UPCOMING MATCHES
  • The Mountain Lions will play their final home matches of the regular season Nov. 5-6 when they play host to Black Hills State University on Friday, and South Dakota School of Mines on Saturday for Senior Night.
 
SOCIAL
Twitter - @GoMountainLions
Instagram - @gomountainlions
Facebook – Go Mountain Lions
 
As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 16 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.
 
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