The South Dakota School of Mines volleyball team hosted the New Mexico Highlands Cowgirls in an RMAC showdown Friday night.

The Hardrockers won the match in three straight sets, 25-21, 25-21, 25-21. It was the first time in history that the Hardrockers were able to sweep the Cowgirls.

The 'Rockers opened the match on an 8-2 run fueled by a 5-point serving run by Dana Thomson.  In the span of 5 points she was able to rack up 2 aces and put the 'Rockers in prime position defensively. Caryn Hazard was able to set the tone for her performance when she entered the match at point 5. She sent 6 balls to the ground in her first rotation through front row. The Cowgirls attempted to claw their way back through a late 5-point run but the Hardrockers took the set 25-21 with ease.

Set 2 was a bit different as the Cowgirl offense started to click. Both the Hardrockers and Cowgirls were able to post 15 kills in the set, but the 'Rockers were able to post .256 hitting percent while they held the Cowgirls to .167. Thomson was able to close the set 25-21 off a thunderous kill down the line.

In set 3 the 'Rockers came out cool and composed. They were able to post their best hitting percentage of the match at .300.  The duo of Hazard and Thomson continued to control the match with their aggressive to every zone of the Cowgirl defense. Jacey Koethe was able to close the match for the Hardrockers behind the service line with a tough serve that forced the Cowgirls into a setting error.

The Hardrockers put on quite an offensive showing as they posted 44 kills on 117 attempts, good for a .248 hitting percentage. Shyann Bastian paced the Hardrocker offense with a match high 34 assists.

The Hardrocker offense was led by their two dominate outside hitters, Caryn Hazard and Dana Thomson.  The duo seemed almost unstoppable throughout the whole match.  Hazard tallied a career high 21 kills on 47 attempts and a.362 hitting percentage.  Thomson chipped in 13 kills and 10 digs. Libero Anna Thomas was also able to post double digit digs with 14.

The Cowgirls were led by outside hitter Sierra Foley who tallied 13 kills on 32 attempts. No other Cowgirl was able to post double digit kills

The 'Rockers will be back in action tomorrow as they face the CSU Pueblo Thunderwolves at 1 p.m. in the King Center.