#RMACvb Weekly Release: Week 10
Full Release
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – It was an exciting weekend for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference volleyball as teams battled to secure a spot in the RMAC Tournament.
With two days of RMAC play, five schools finished with 2-0 victories.
The top two schools in the RMAC standings, Colorado Mines and MSU-Denver, were on the road this weekend. The Roadrunners defeated Western State 3-0 and CSU-Pueblo 3-1.
The Orediggers beat Westminster in three sets, but had to go five sets with Colorado Mesa to take the win. Not only did their victory against the Mavericks improve them to a 15-2 RMAC record, but they can also claim a share of RMAC Regular-Season Title.
The Orediggers will play Regis in a non-conference match on Thursday and travel to Colorado Christian next Saturday for their last regular season match. If Colorado Mines pulls out a win over the Cougars, they will clinch the RMAC title outright and would host the 2015 RMAC Tournament.
Chadron State was a dominate force this weekend. It hosted South Dakota Mines and Black Hills State beating both teams in a three set victory. The Eagles led Black Hills State in kills (51-33), assists (49-32), and digs (52-36). Against the Hardrockers, they led in blocks eleven to one.
Western New Mexico traveled to Colorado this weekend beating Fort Lewis in four sets and faced Adams State on Saturday. After losing the first set against the Grizzlies (25-22), the Mustangs took sets two, three and five (25-19; 25-14; 17-15) to take the match. The Mustangs are in a three-way tie for third in the RMAC standings along with Regis and Colorado Mesa at 13-4 in conference.
Regis beat Black Hills State in three sets and South Dakota Mines 3-1. In the match against the Hardrockers, the Rangers won the first two sets and battled back-and-forth in the third, but fell short 30-28. Regis came out strong in the fourth to claim set and match victories over the Hardrockers.
UCCS and Western State clinched a spot this weekend and will head to the RMAC Tournament along with Colorado Mines, MSU Denver, Western New Mexico, Regis and Colorado Mesa.
The eighth and final spot in the tournament is up for grabs between a four schools. Colorado Christian, CSU-Pueblo, Adams State and Chadron State will face their opponents this week to see who will earn the final spot.
RMAC Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week
Gaby Varela - Chadron State, So.
Dorado, P.R.
In Chadron State College volleyball’s first 2-0 weekend of the season, Gaby Varela knocked down 23 kills, a clip of 3.83 per set. Perhaps more impressively, she did it hitting for a .574 percentage with only three errors in six sets. She was responsible for the winning kill on match point against BHSU on Saturday. The Eagles swept both South Dakota Mines and Black Hills State, breaking losing streaks of five and seven wins, respectively.
RMAC Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week
Mallory Grimsrud - Adams State, So.
Montana City, Mont.
Grimsrud had 9 blocks against WNMU and preceded that with 6 blocks in a win over NMHU. 13 of her 15 total blocks were solo. Added 4 digs. Was equally impressive on offense with 32 combined kills for two matches.
RMAC Volleyball Setter of the Week
Madison Webb - Chadron State, Fr.
Loveland, Colo.
Madison Webb continues to reach new heights in her freshman season as the Eagles’ starting setter. This time out, she posted her best assists per set average in any weekend of 2015, amassing 13.0 per game. She had an incredible 14.67 assists per set Saturday versus BHSU, putting up her second-best single-match number of the year. She propelled the Eagles to another stout team hitting percentage of .312. No other setter in the RMAC had a better assists per set average over a pair of wins this weekend. To those outstanding numbers she added 3 service aces and five digs.