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UCCS Athletics

2025 ncaa scr qf

PREVIEW | Mountain Lions Open Regional Tournament with Orediggers

12/1/2025 3:17:00 PM

THIS WEEK'S MATCHUPS
  • No. 2 seed University of Colorado Colorado Springs will open the 2025 NCAA South Central Regional Tournament on Thursday in Denver against a familiar foe, No. 7 seed Colorado School of Mines.  The two Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opponents will open the tournament at 11 a.m. in the Auraria Event Center on the campus of Metropolitan State University of Denver.
  • No. 1 seed MSU Denver will host the eight-team tournament Dec. 4-6. The winner between UCCS and Mines will take on the winner between No. 3 seed Angelo State University and No. 6 seed Lubbock Christian University on Friday, Dec. 5 in the semifinal round.  The top half of the bracket will feature top-seed MSU Denver and No. 8 seed Colorado Mesa University.  Rounding out the bracket is No. 4 seed West Texas A&M University, which is pitted against No. 5 seed Colorado State University Pueblo. 
 
GAME COVERAGE  
TICKETS
  • All fans will be charged admission and are able to pre-purchase tickets online.
  • Ticket Prices:
    • General Admission - $13
    • Student (12+ with ID) - $7
    • Senior Citizen (65+) - $7
  • Fans also have the option to purchase an all-session pass to attend all seven matches.
    • General Admission - $22.44
    • Student/Senior Citizen - $12.24
 
LAST TIME OUT
  • As the No. 2 seed in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament, the Mountain Lions rolled past No. 7 seed Fort Lewis College and No. 3 seed Colorado State Pueblo in back-to-back sweeps to advance to the championship match.
  • Playing in their first RMAC Tournament Championship match since 2007, the Mountain Lions were swept by the No. 1 seed Roadrunners.
  • A service error and then an attack error, followed by a kill from Sydney Hyde started the action off for UCCS in the championship match with a 3-0 lead.  The Mountain Lions added two more kills from Hyde and Kinley Gomez followed by a block from Hyde and Sydnee Walker for a mini 3-0 run that gave UCCS a 7-3 lead and forced the home team to call a timeout.  Coming out of the timeout, the Roadrunners knotted the game at 7-7 behind two kills, an ace from Annika Helf, and a UCCS error.  UCCS bumped its lead to 9-7 after a service error from Helf and a block from Nicole Martin and Gomez, but the Roadrunners responded with 7-0 run to take a 14-9 lead.  UCCS was able to chip into the lead after Martin put down a kill and then added a solo block before MSUD committed two attacking errors, bringing UCCS within one point, 14-13.  The one-point deficit would be as close as UCCS would get to the No. 1 seed, as the Roadrunners outscored UCCS 7-1 to end the opening set, 25-18.
  • Opposite of set one, the Roadrunners built an early 3-0 lead in set two, but then committed three straight errors to tie the action, 3-3.  The Roadrunners built up a 15-9 lead before committing another attacking error, followed by a kill from Walker to cut the deficit down, making MSU Denver use a timeout. Out of the timeout, Martin served an ace as Hyde and Michelle Fredrick blocked the next attack from MSU.  Trailing by two, 15-13, the No. 2 seed Mountain Lions kept clawing back into the home team's lead.  Still trailing by two, the Mountain Lions strung together a 6-2 run to take their first lead of the set, 21-20, but the home team prevailed to win set two, 25-23.
  • Down early again in set three, 4-1, the Mountain Lions hammered past MSU Denver to snag a 7-5 lead.  UCCS' 6-1 run was highlighted by four kills from three Mountain Lions, including back-to-back kills from Walker.  The Roadrunners' 17-14 lead dissipated after Walker, Martin, and two kills from Gomez knotted the set at 18-18, but the ninth-ranked Roadrunners handed UCCS a 3-0 setback after taking set three, 25-19.
  • Gomez led the offensive effort at the net with a team-high eight kills on 27 attempts. Walker chipped in six kills and dug up six attacks.  Mitrovich finished the match with 11 assists, an ace, and nine digs.  UCCS posted 28 kills and hit .103 on the night, while recording 116 attacks. 
 
NCAA REGIONAL RANKINGS
  • UCCS appeared in all three regular-season NCAA South Central Rankings this season.  In the first edition of the rankings, the Mountain Lions were one of 10 teams listed "Under Consideration."  In the final two rankings before the bracket was announced, UCCS was ranked No. 3 both weeks.

RMAC AWARDS
  • After a three-year hiatus from the RMAC Player of the Week selections, the Mountain Lions broke through this season.  Nicole Martin earned the first nod when she was selected the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 29.  One month later on Oct. 27, Payton Tompkins was tabbed the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week, before Martin and Maylen Mitrovich were tabbed the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week and RMAC Setter of the Week, respectively, on Nov. 3.
  • A plethora of Mountain Lions were honored on the All-RMAC Teams, with head coach Tara Hittle earning the RMAC Coach of the Year honor.  Sophomore outside hitter Tompkins and junior middle blocker Martin were voted to the All-RMAC First Team.  Receiving All-RMAC Second Team distinction were freshman outside hitter Sydney Hyde and redshirt-senior setter Mitrovich, while three Mountain Lions were tabbed to RMAC Honorable Mention: Kinley Gomez, Sydnee Walker, and Mackenzie Ransom.
  • After helping the Mountain Lions reach the RMAC Championship match, Gomez and Martin were voted to the 2025 RMAC All-Tournament Team.
 
STATISTICAL LEADERS
  • The Mountain Lions rank in the top 10 of nearly every statistical category in the conference, including the fifth-best win-loss percentage in Division II (.897).
  • Among RMAC teams, UCCS is second in the league in assists (12.7) and kills (13.8) per set, and third overall in aces per set (1.6) and hitting percentage (.246).
  • Leading the charge offensively at the net is Tompkins, whose 3.5 kills per set are the third most by any RMAC player, and her 9.5 attacks and 4.0 points per set are the fourth highest.
  • Martin leads the league in service aces, locking down 46 aces in 104 sets for a .44 average.  She is also one of the top defensive individual players at the net, ranking seventh in blocks (0.96 per set).
  • True freshman Sydney Hyde's .302 hitting percentage is the ninth-best mark in the conference, while her .87 blocks per set are the 13th most.
  • Quarterbacking the UCCS offense are setters Maylen Mitrovich and Audrey Dowd.  Mitrovich's 5.8 assists per set are ninth in the RMAC, just ahead of Dowd's 5.2 average (12th).
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. MINES
  • UCCS enters Thursday's post-season matchup with the Orediggers owning a 27-31 all-time series record.  The Mountain Lions won both regular-season matches against Mines in 2025, disposing of the Orediggers in three sets in the conference opener at home on Sept. 20, before claiming a 3-1 win in Durango, Colo. in a non-conference affair on Halloween night.
  • This week's match will mark the fourth time in program history the two teams have faced off against each other three times in one season.  It also marks the third time UCCS has taken on the Orediggers in the postseason, with the Mountain Lions aiming to notch their first postseason win over CSM.
 
SCOUTING COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
  • Colorado School of Mines finished the regular season with a 20-7 overall record and a 10-4 mark in conference matches to secure the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament. After winning four of their last five regular-season matches, the Orediggers dropped a 3-2 home match to No. 5 seed Colorado Mesa before earning the No. 7 seed in the South Central Regional Tournament and their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2022.
  • A stout defensive unit, the Orediggers are second in the RMAC in digs (16.8 per set) and blocks (2.3), forcing their opponents to have the lowest hitting percentage in the RMAC (.155).   Offensively, CSM is putting down 13.1 kills per set (sixth) and dishing up the fourth-most assists as a team (12.2).
  • All-RMAC First Team selection Jenna McLauglin is one of the top threats at the net in the RMAC.  The sophomore middle blocker ranks sixth in the league in blocks per set (.97), seventh in hitting percentage (.326), ninth in points per set (3.5), and 10th in kills per set (3.5).
  • Setting up the attacks for McLaughlin and the Orediggers is All-RMAC Second Teamer Hailee Martinez.  The redshirt-senior owns the second-most assists per set in the RMAC with a 9.7 average.
  • Defending the net is freshman middle blocker Abby O'Shay, who's 1.1 blocks per set put her at No. 2 amongst all conference players.
 
MOUNTAIN LIONS MAKING HISTORY
  • UCCS's .897 winning percentage (26-3) is the fifth highest in Division II. All three setbacks this season have come against two teams in the regional tournament (MSU Denver and CSU Pueblo), with two of the losses coming to the nationally ranked Roadrunners.
  • The Mountain Lions made a 15-match swing in wins from last year.  UCCS closed the 2024 season with an 11-15 record and has now won 15 more games and 12 fewer losses than last year.
  • UCCS' 14-match winning streak, which ended in the RMAC Championship match, is the longest winning streak in school history.
  • The Mountain Lions finished their home season with a perfect 13-0 record.  UCCS has one other home undefeated season in the record books when they went 9-0 in 2007.
  • The 13 home wins are the most home wins in any season, besting the 2017 season (11-2) and the 1991 season (11-3).
  • UCCS has recorded 14 sweeps in 2025 and is 14-2 in three-set matches. 
  • Head coach Tara Hittle recorded her 50th career win at UCCS in a five-set victory at home over Colorado Christian on Oct. 25.
  • The Mountain Lions have qualified for the RMAC Tournament 15 times.  UCCS is 4-16 all-time in the conference tournament.
  • The last time UCCS qualified for the RMAC Tournament was during the COVID-shortened season in 2020-21.
  • Senior libero McKenzie Ransom notched a milestone in her notable career at UCCS when she recorded her 1,000th dig at Westminster University.  Redshirt-senior Maylen Mitrovich and redshirt-sophomore Audrey Dowd also tallied milestones in October, with each of them posting their 1,000th career set assist.
 
UCCS UNDER HEAD COACH TARA HITTLE
  • In her fourth year leading the Mountain Lions, head coach Tara Hittle brings UCCS to their first RMAC Tournament appearance since 2020-21. The 2025 RMAC Coach of the Year, Hittle has led UCCS to its first winning season in eight years, when they posted a 15-12 record in 2017.  Hittle is the first coach in program history to be named the RMAC Coach of the Year.
 
UP NEXT
  • A third win over the Orediggers this season would put UCCS in a semifinal matchup between the winner of No. 3 seed Angelo State University and No. 6 seed Lubbock Christian University.  Friday's semifinal action is slated to get underway at 4 p.m.

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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 14 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics. 
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