GOLDEN, Colo.— Behind numerous monster statistical nights, the Colorado Mesa University volleyball team pulled out the tightest possible 5-set road win over the Colorado School of Mines in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday night here in the Orediggers' Lockridge Arena.
 
All five sets were decided by the minimum two points as the Mavs claimed the decisive fifth set by a 16-14 margin after the Orediggers had fought back from an 11-4 deficit to tie it at 14.

After dropping the first set, 27-25, the Mavs took the second by a 25-23 margin.  They then used a successful replay challenge to remain alive in the third, eventually pulling it out 29-27 before Mines forced the fifth by taking the fourth set, 25-23.
 
The Mavs, now 17-9 overall, will move on to the RMAC Tournament semifinals for the sixth straight year and will play top-seeded MSU Denver, ranked ninth in the latest national poll, on Friday evening at 5 p.m. in the Roadrunners' Auraria Event Center.
 
The Mavs handed the Roadrunners (24-3, 13-1 RMAC) their only RMAC loss of the season on Sept. 26.  The Roadrunners won their 15^th straight match with a 3-1 win over Adams State.
 
No. 2 seed UCCS and No. 3 seed CSU Pueblo will play in the second semifinal after both of those teams claimed 4-set home wins over Fort Lewis and Westminster, respectively.
 
Saturday's championship match will be played at 5 p.m. on Saturday at MSU Denver.
 
Mines fell to 20-7 with Tuesday's loss.
 
The regular season meeting between the teams on Oct. 24 also went five sets as the Orediggers prevailed by a 16-14 margin in the fifth set of that reverse sweep to win the match, which ended up deciding the venue for Tuesday's affair as both teams finished 10-4 in RMAC play to share fourth place in the RMAC standings.
 
Mines claimed the No. 4 seed and the right to host on Tuesday because of that win while the Mavs were the fifth seed and ended up as the only road team to win a quarterfinal.
 
Sadie Scoville had the largest of the Mavs' many impressive nights, recording 25 kills and a career-high 23 digs.  Her effort marked the first time since the 2016 NCAA Tournament that a Maverick had more than 20 kills and 20 digs in a single match.
 
Fellow outside hitter Karsen Breeding also put down a career-high 17 kills while junior middle blocker Macy Wood finished with a career-high 16 kills while hitting .452.
 
Opposite hitter Coco Barnett also finished with ten kills as the Mavs recorded a season-high 81, their highest single-match total since 2007 and their fourth highest in the rally-scoring era (2001-Present).
 
Meanwhile, libero Allison Waller finished with 26 digs to pace the Mavs defensively.  She has now recorded 66 digs in the last three matches alone.
 
Alrashed recorded six blocks while becoming the first Maverick to surpass the 100 block in a season in seven years.  She also chipped in six kills on .400 hitting.
 
Setter Ashlyn Tafoya also recorded a 37-assiist, 12-dig double-double while Addie Swanson had 25 assists and nine digs.
 
Freshman defensive specialist Addison Wright also recorded 11 digs as the Mavs recorded 91, their highest single-match total since 2022.
 
Mines freshman right side Cadence McDonald made just her fourth start of the season and finished with 14 kills.  Abbie O'Shay also recorded 13 kills and seven blocks.
 
The sets were tied an incredible 49 combined times.  Their were 19 lead changes, including three in the fifth set alone.
 
The Mavs trailed 4-3 early in the fifth set but went on a 7-0 run to seize a 10-4 lead.  The Mavs still had a 13-7 lead minutes later before the Orediggers went on a 5-0 run of their own to pull with 13-12.
 
Alrashed then put down a cross-court kill from the right side that withstood a Mines replay challenge to give the Mavs a pair of match points, which the Orediggers thwarted with a pair of kills.
 
Wood then delivered a back-set kill from Tafoya before teaming with Emma Luce to block Mines' Francesca Nuzzo to clinch the match.
 
After the Mavs pulled out the third set, Mines jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the fourth set.
 
The Orediggers later led the frame 17-10, before watching the Mavs gradually pull back within 23-21 and 24-22 on a Scovill kill.
 
However, one of the Mavs' 12 service errors sent the match to fifth.
 
Set three was the tightest of the night and featured 18 ties and seven lead changes.
 
The Mavs ended up hitting .457 in it and took a 22-20 lead on a Wood kill before the Orediggers tied the set at 22 and again at 23 before fighting off a Maverik set point with a kill from Allison Jansen, who had played in just four matches and six sets during the regular season.
 
The Mavs also had another set point after a Scoville kill before O'Shay answered to level the score at 25.  McDonald then gave the Orediggers a 26-25 lead before the Orediggers had appeared to win a set on a block.  However, Maverick Coach Austin Albers challenged the call and after a prolonged review, it was determined that Naomi Romsio was in the net on the block as the Mavs remained alive to tie the set at 26.
 
Scoville then gave the Mavs 27-26 and 28-27 leads with kills around a CMU service error before an O'Shay hitting error gave the Mavs the set win, which proved pivotal as the Orediggers led throughout the fourth to set up the fifth.
 
Although Tuesday's win was all about the conference tournament, it could also prove to be critical in the NCAA Tournament selection process.
 
The Mavs have now won five straight matches and were ranked ninth in last week's NCAA Division II South Central Regional rankings.  Mines was slotted fourth.  New rankings will be released on Wednesday but will not include Tuesday's results.
 
However, the result will be factored in to the final decision process, which will be announced during next Monday's NCAA selection show that will air at 5:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.
 
Eight teams, including the champions of the Lone Star Conference and RMAC Tournaments will be selected.