The South Dakota School of Mines volleyball team shattered their Division 2 win record Friday night in Gunnison, Colorado.

The Hardrockers took down the Western State Mountaineers in a come from behind 5 set win, 18-25, 23-25, 25-19, 25-23, 15-11.

In set 1 the Mountaineers simply outscored the Hardrockers as they tallied 16 kills while hitting .316 as a team when the 'Rockers only posted 10 kills in the set.

SD Mines came out hot in set 2 as they jumped out to an early 9-4 lead behind a 4-point serving run by Dana Thomson. Western was able to close the gap at point ten. The two teams continued to trade points throughout the set, as there were 6 tied scores and 2 lead changes. Even though the Hardrocker offense was starting to find their rhythm towards the end of the set, they were unable to finish out the set due to the offensive efforts of the Mountaineers.

While the 'Rockers didn't win set 2, they certainly generated the momentum and confidence they needed to take the 3^rd set by storm. Western was able to hang with the Hardrockers up until point 12 where they took control of the match. The Hardrockers posted an astonishing 75 percent side out percentage while collecting 17 kills in the set. Freshman middle blocker Jacey Koethe was able to seal the set for the Hardrockers as she scored their final three points with a block and 2 thunderous kills.

Set four proved to be a battle, as it was the tightest set of the match with 9 tied scores and 6 lead changes. In set four the Hardrocker block came out on fire as Thomson and Dejah Behrend opened the set with two back to back roof blocks. With the momentum fueled by their early blocks, the Hardrockers found themselves up early in the set 10-4.  Despite the early deficit, the Mountaineers were not ready to wave their white flag as they clawed their way back to tie the set at point 11 through the efforts of outside hitter Jordyn Todd. At point 22, Hardrocker middle blocker Dejah Behrend was able to steal the offensive steam of the Mountaineers by posting two back to back stuff blocks that fueled the 'Rockers fire. Thomson closed the set for the Hardrockers on her 8^th kill in the set.

Thomson's success followed her into set 5 as she posted the first two kills in the set. While Koethe was back to serve, the Hardrockers were able to secure an 8-4 lead. At point 7 the duo of Hannah Stevenson and Behrend posted the most notable block of the match that went nearly straight down on the other side. Western continued to battle but were unable to lead in the set after point 3. The match seemed to be sealed for the Hardrockers after Anna Thomas' ace at point 12. Thomson went on to tally 3 more kills, and the 'Rockers won the match after they forced the Mountaineers into an attack error.

In their 8^th 5 set match of the season, the Hardrockers certainly face once of their closest matches in terms of statistics. The 'Rockers and Mountaineers had nearly identical cumulative team statistics as they both posted 63 kills in the match. SD Mines posted 10 blocks the Mountaineers 9, and 100 digs to their 96. What set the Hardrockers apart was their .187 hitting percentage and their ability to post a ridiculously high side out percentage in the final 3 sets.

The Hardrockers had 3 players that tallied double digit kills, Dana Thomson (27), Jacey Koethe(14) and Chelsea Brewster(10). Thomson posted a double double as she led all hitters with 27 kills and posted 10 digs.  The 'Rocker offense was orchestrated by Kassie Luce and Shyann Bastian who collected 27 and 18 assists in the match. Dejah Behrend posted a career high 7 blocks, 4 solo and 3 assists. Anna Thomas nearly doubled the number of digs of any other player in the match with a total of 41.

The Hardrockers will head to Grand Junction tomorrow to face the Colorado Mesa Mavericks at 3pm.