#21 Mines vs. Colorado Christian, Tuesday, 7 p.m. [Live Stats] [Video]
#21 Mines at Chadron State, Saturday, 6 p.m. [Live Stats] [Video]

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The final week of the regular season is here as #21 Mines hosts rival Colorado Christian in a big South Central Region contest tomorrow night, and then concluding the season at Chadron State on Saturday.

LAST WEEKEND LOOK BACK
Mines went on the road and came back with two victories after their annual swing through southern Colorado. First, the Orediggers knocked off a very capable Adams State squad last Friday night by the final of 3-1 (25-18, 31-29, 20-25, 25-17). Mines got double-digit kills from each of Ashlyn Eitemiller, LaRose Currie, Alanna Winfield and Ellie Monarch. They followed that performance with a sweep at Fort Lewis (25-20, 27-25, 25-20) which saw Monarch smash 17 kills on .452 hitting.

IN THE POLLS
The Orediggers have moved up one spot to #21 in the latest AVCA National Rankings which were just released earlier this afternoon. The bigger news is that the first NCAA Division II Region Rankings came out last Wednesday and Mines found itself securely in at #5. #10 Angelo State (27-2) is the top team in the region with #17 MSU Denver in second followed by Tarleton State and Colorado Mesa. Also from the RMAC in the region rankings is Regis and Colorado Christian at #7 and #10, respectively. 

RMAC TOURNAMENT UPDATE
The final week of the regular season is here and the Orediggers have already locked up their ninth straight trip to the RMAC Tournament as well as the rights to host a quarterfinal match on November 15. While MSU Denver has already clinched the regular season title, the rest of the seeding is still up for grabs. Win one of the matches this week, and Mines is the two seed – drop both matches and they could fall to #3. Colorado Mesa will come in anywhere between second and fifth, but are in the tournament regardless. The rest of the standings are separated by one or two games with six teams fighting for five spots.

WE MEET AGAIN
This will be the second meeting this season for Mines against CCU and Chadron State. First, the Orediggers pulled off a five-set thriller in Lakewood back on September 20. Ellie Monarch posted a career-high 20 kills and Alanna Winfield drilled 17 in the victory. The Orediggers played Chadron State at home just back on October 28. Mines swept the visiting Eagles behind a massive 50-assist performance from Marina Hansen.

SCOUTING COLORADO CHRISTIAN 
The Cougars are in a fight to lock up one of the spots in next weekend's RMAC Tournament as they currently sit in fifth in the standings with a 10-6 conference record and at 18-9 overall. CCU is a strong defensive squad as they lead the league in digs (17.88) and are fourth in blocks (2.08). Sophia Proano is the team's top offensive threat with a league fifth-best 3.66 k/s while hitting a conference seventh-best .296.

SCOUTING CHADRON STATE
Chadron State currently boasts a 7-18 overall record and 6-10 mark in the RMAC. The Eagles are led by setter Madison Webb and outside hitter Rudy Leasau who average 10.40 a/s and 3.59 k/s, respectively. Kenzie Chrisman (1.02 b/s) and Emily Bruce (5.06 d/s) are both fifth in the league in blocks and digs, correspondingly.