SILVER CITY, N.M. – The Western New Mexico University volleyball team will face a trio of tough teams this week when they host University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, Regis University and Metro State University in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action inside Drag's Court.


The Lady Mustangs went 1-2 against these same three teams last year on the road, dropping the first two and then defeating Metro State.


WNMU (11-3, 4-2 RMAC) will look to snap a two-game slide against the Mountain Lions with their last win coming in 2010 in Colorado Springs (3-1). UCCS is 7-7 on the season and 3-3 in the conference, collecting RMAC wins over Black Hills State, Chadron State and Colorado Christian. They lost a close 3-2 decision to nationally ranked Colorado Mines, Metro State (3-1) and nationally ranked Regis (3-0). Three players have over 100 kills led by 149 from Jordan Banich. Grace Gordon sets the table with 487 assists, while on defense, Heather Sanders has 222 digs and Kristen Sciacca has added 50 total blocks. WNMU and UCCS will face each other on Thursday night beginning at 7 p.m.


On Friday night, also at 7 p.m., the Lady Mustangs will face the No. 24 Regis University Rangers. Regis is 9-6 overall on the season and 5-1 in the conference. They have wins in the RMAC over Black Hills State (3-1), Chadron State (3-0), Colorado Christian (3-1), Metro State (3-0) and UCCS (3-0). Their lone loss was at home against Colorado Mines, 3-1. WNMU faced the Rangers twice last year, both times in Denver falling in straight sets with the last coming in the RMAC Tournament. WNMU will look to snap a five-game slide against Regis, last defeating the Rangers in 2008, 3-0, in Silver City. Katie Klein leads the offensive attack as she has 219 kills so far this season. Three other Rangers have at least 108 kills. Jaclyn Williamson sets the table with 531 assists, while on defense, Maya Kikeby has 246 and Diamond Ridley-Pierce has 46 total blocks.


The last match of the weekend pits the Lady Mustangs against Metro State on Saturday night at 7 p.m. Metro State enters with an 8-6 overall record and 4-2 mark in the RMAC. They have defeated Chadron State (3-1), Black Hills State (3-1), Colorado Mines (3-1) and UCCS (3-1). Their two losses came against Regis (3-0) and Colorado Christian (3-2). WNMU has fared well in the past two seasons against the Roadrunners, having won the last two regular season matchups including a 3-2 win in Silver City in 2011 and last year's 3-1 win in Denver. In-between those two matches, Metro State won in the semifinal round of the RMAC Tournament in 2011, 3-1. Alysa Heath leads three Roadrunners with over 100 kills as she has tallied 186. Two setters have pretty even numbers in assists, with Betty Van Lith with 311 and Brandi Torr with 277. On defense, Alex Green has 238 digs, while Kylee Hoagland and Heath have 38 total blocks.


WNMU is on a two-game winning streak with wins over New Mexico Highlands and CSU-Pueblo this past weekend. Three Lady Mustangs have over 100 kills in Bobbi Bayer (Granby, CO/Eddyville Blakesburg ) (165), Angelina Pulu (Long Beach, CA/Robert A. Millikan High School) (158) and Kaysee Pilgrim (Phoenix, AZ/Barry Goldwater) (121). Pilgrim has the highest percentage of the trio hitting at a .275 clip. Alyssa Meihack (Fallon, NV/Churchill County High School) remains the main distributor dishing out 570 assists. On defense, Pulu has 208 digs, while Meihack (170) and Chyler Imai (Kapaau, HI/Kohala) (135) are also over 100. Pilgrim has 40 total blocks to lead the team, while Shannon Rich (Folsom, CA/Folsom) has 32.


The WNMU volleyball players will also be wearing pink Dig For The Cure shirts in honor of breast cancer awareness month.