GOLDEN, Colo. – After dropping the first two sets, the Western New Mexico volleyball squad came back to take the third, before falling in four, 3-1 (15-25, 18-25, 25-23, 18-25) to the No. 24 Colorado School of Mines Saturday night in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action.


CSM (16-5, 10-2 RMAC) opened a 6-2 lead in the first set and kept the lead throughout.


WNMU (10-10, 6-6 RMAC) got to within three, 9-6, on a kill by Alyssa Meihack (Fallon, NV/Churchill County High School).


The Mustangs would again get to within three at 12-9 on an attack error by the Orediggers.


But, the three-point distance would be as close as the Mustangs would get the rest of the set, getting the score back to three at 16-13 on a double-block by Heather Rux (Cottonwood, AZ/Mingus Union High School) and Meihack, before CSM rolled off the next four points on their way to a 25-15 opening set win.


WNMU scored the first two points in the second set, as Angelina Pulu (Long Beach, CA/Robert A. Millikan High School) started the scoring with a kill and an attack error by CSM gave the Mustangs a 2-0 lead.


After the teams were tied at five, a four-point swing for CSM pushed their lead to 9-5.


WNMU fought back to within one on a service ace by Marilee Frost (Long Beach, CA/Robert A. Millikan High School) to make it 11-10 in favor of the Orediggers.


WNMU would keep it close over the next several points, including a double-block by Rux and Malayzha Dinkins (Corona, CA/Santiago High School) cut the CSM lead back to three, 20-17.


That would be as close as the Mustangs would get, as the Orediggers scored five of the next six points to take the set, 25-18.


The Orediggers looked to be on their way to a straight-set win, opening the third with a 5-0 lead.


With CSM still ahead at 9-5, the Mustangs began to chip away.


Pulu delivered a kill, then after CSM tallied a point, a kill by Ziona Verhulsdonk (Kailua, HI/Hawaii Preparatory Academy) was later followed by a Rux kill and a CSM attack error to leave the Orediggers ahead, 11-9, prompting a timeout.


Out of the timeout, WNMU kept the momentum going with a kill by Verhulsdonk and then after an attack error, Jordan Johnston (Boise, ID/Centennial High School) came away with a solo block and then another solo block by Verhulsdonk gave the Mustangs a 13-11 lead and another CSM timeout.


After CSM came back to tie the set at 14, the teams would tie eight times the rest of the set, including the final time at 23.
That's when WNMU scored the final two points, one on a kill by Rux and the other on a solo block by Taylor Henderson (Pocatello, ID/Century High School) to give the Mustangs a 25-23 set win.


The Orediggers raced out to a 7-3 lead in the fourth set and after WNMU came back to within four at 10-6, on a kill by Frost, CSM scored five of the next six points for a 15-7 lead which led to a WNMU timeout.


The Mustangs had one more run left in them, getting to within four at 20-16, as to get to that point, WNMU scored four straight points. Verhulsdonk, Johnston and Rux had kills and Henderson and Johnston added a block during the run.


A kill by Henderson at 21-17 would be as close as the Mustangs would get the rest of the way, as the Orediggers ran off four of the next five points for the 25-18 set win.


Pulu reeled off 16 kills and 15 digs to lead the team in both categories.


Verhulsdonk and Rux added eight kills apiece, while Johnston again helped lead the block party with five total blocks, including two solo, as the Mustangs posted 11 team blocks.


WNMU will finally return home this coming Saturday when they will host Adams State College with the match beginning at 7 p.m. The match will also be a “Dig for the Cure” night in which the players will be wearing pink and t-shirts will be sold in support of Breast Cancer Awareness month and benefiting Susan B. Komen for the cure.