ALAMOSA, Colo.— With just six matches remaining in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) regular-season schedule, the Adams State University Volleyball team will have three games in five days as they try to edge their way back into playoff contention.
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN AND BACK
Adams State will be on the long road to start these five days as they are on their way to South Dakota to take on Black Hills State University on Friday at 7:00 p.m. before taking on South Dakota Mines on Saturday, Oct. 30 at 5:00 p.m.
 
The Grizzlies will return home on Tuesday, Nov. 2, when they host New Mexico Highlands at 7:00 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Grizzlies played two games last week where they dropped a three-set match to No. 1 MSU Denver with scores of 17-25, 18-25, and 18-25 before they won a four-set thriller against Colorado Christian. The Grizzlies swept the season series with the Cougars as this past weekend's match inside Plachy had set scores of 25-19, 22-25, 25-17, and 25-16.
 
RANKED OPPONENTS
The Grizzlies' win over Angelo State earlier this season was the Grizzlies' first win over a Top 3 team. The Grizzlies had defeated then-ranked No. 5 Nebraska-Kearney in five sets in the 2008 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Tournament quarterfinals on Nov. 14, 2008. Overall, against ranked (Top 25) opponents, since 2005, Adams State is 5-28 in matches and 27-91 in sets. That match win over Angelo State was the first sweep for the Grizzlies over a ranked opponent. So far this season, the Grizzlies are 1-3 against ranked opponents as they fell to No. 16 Southwest Minnesota State, 3-0 (25-11, 25-10, and 25-11), No. 6 Colorado School of Mines, 3-0 (10-25, 22-25 and 21-25) and No. 1 MSU Denver (25-19, 22-25, 25-17 and 25-16).
 
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES
Adams State opened the conference portion of the season with a perfect 3-0 record, but they have gone 2-7 since then. However, 16th-year Head Coach Lindy Mortensen now has 211 wins under her belt as the head coach. As a result, Adams State is in ninth place, just one spot outside the final RMAC Tournament bracket.
 
Shannon Mulkey sits in a tie for ninth in the conference in blocks per game with 0.88 per set. She has 65 blocks, with 15 being solo.
 
Junior Bailey Schlosser is the top Grizzly in the setter position as she has recorded 377 assists to average 6.43 assists a set, which is tenth in the conference. Freshman Madeleine Benally is sitting in 13th in the category with 308 assists and a 5.33 per set.
 
Freshman Aileen Bugas has 223 digs on the season, while Sierra Leone Sanchez has 198.
 
ABOUT THE YELLOW JACKETS
BHSU enters with a 5-15 overall record and a 2-10 RMAC record.
 
Black Hills State is coming off a pair of road losses to Western Colorado and Fort Lewis College. The Yellow Jackets went to four sets against the Mountaineers, recording 58 kills led by Mariah Robinson and Kindra Cerrone with 15 apiece. Ultimately BHSU would fall 3-1 against Western Colorado. The Yellow Jackets forced five sets against the Skyhawks after falling in set one 25-19, winning set two 25-13, winning set three 26-24, the Yellow Jackets fell in scene four 25-20 and fell in set five 15-11.
 
The last time the Yellow Jackets and Grizzlies faced off was Mar. 19, 2021, in a contest that saw the Grizzlies come out on top, winning in straight sets 25-18, 25-23, and 25-21. The last time the Yellow Jackets defeated the Grizzlies was on Oct. 25, 2019, in a contest that went to five sets but saw the Yellow Jackets prevail in the fifth set.
 
ABOUT THE HARDROCKERS
South Dakota Mines enters the weekend with a 3-9 RMAC record and a 9-11 overall record. The Grizzlies and Hardrockers have met a total of seven times. The first matchup between the two schools was on Oct. 21, 2014, with the most recent matchup coming on Mar. 1, 2021. Adams State has won five of the first seven matchups. After losing the first five matchups, the Hardrockers have now won back-to-back matchups.
 
South Dakota Mines' strength thus far this season has been its' play on the defensive side of the net. The Hardrockers allow the opposition to hit .178 against them. That is the fifth-best opponent hitting percentage in the RMAC. In addition to forcing errors, the Hardrocker defense keeps balls off the floor, with 1,316 digs in 77 sets, to place 2nd in the conference with 17.09 digs per set. The Hardrockers continue to be very balanced offensively, with five women having over 120 kills. Sydney Crites leads the team with 153, Dejah Behrend, Jacey Koeth, Emma Grimm, and Lily Bartling have 152, 149, 121, and 100. Koethe, Behrend and Bartling lead the team with 60, 51, and 44 blocks.
 
ABOUT THE COWGIRLS
NMHU enters the weekend with a 3-9 record in the conference and a 7-15 overall record. They dropped two matches last week to Colorado Christian in five sets 3-2 (23-25, 25-23, 25-18, 24-26, 16-14) and No. 1 MSU Denver 3-0 (25-21, 25-13, 25-14).
 
Lisi Langi continues to lead the team in kills at 2.89 per set, while Terayah Studies (2.32) and Keegan Lopez (2.28) are averaging more than two per game, with Stacy Johnson just under at 1.97 kills per set. Soleil Gandara ranks in the top 10 in the RMAC in assists at 10.1 per game, while Johnson leads the team in aces at 0.23 per set. Elena Rivera owns a team-best 4.01 digs per set, while Johnson also leads the teams at 0.92 blocks per set.
 
These two teams met last on Oct. 12 in Las Vegas, with the Grizzlies winning a five-set thriller (20-25, 25-16, 24-26, 25-17, and 15-12).
 
UP NEXT
The Grizzlies will return to action next week when they travel to South Dakota for two RMAC matches. They will take on Black Hills State on Friday, Oct. 29 at 7:00 p.m. before taking on South Dakota Mines at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 30.