RAPID CITY, S.D. – The South Dakota Mines volleyball team is coming off a split of a non-RMAC regional rivalry week when they were defeated by Chadron State in five sets on Tuesday of last week but bounced back to defeat Black Hills State in three sets.
Following the two non-RMAC matchups, the Hardrockers jump back into RMAC play on Saturday at home against Fort Lewis.
GAME INFORMATION
Fort Lewis:
Date/Time: Oct. 12 / 6:00 PM MT
Site: Rapid City, S.D.
Arena: King Center
Series Overall: Fort Lewis leads 6-4.
Streak: Fort Lewis Won 1
Last Meeting: Fort Lewis won in Rapid City, 3-1 (10/28/23).
Watch Live: RMAC Network |
rmacnetwork.com/sdmines
KEEP THE BALL ALIVE
As has become the norm for the team in the past couple of seasons, the volleyball team does a great job of keeping the ball alive and off the floor.
As a team, the Hardrockers are leading the RMAC in digs per set and total digs, while they are 19th and 44th in NCAA Division II in those two categories.
BENES BEHIND THE SERVICE LINE
Hannah Benes is as dangerous as ever behind the service line as she averages .53 aces per set to lead the RMAC and sit in the top 50 nationally.
ATOP THE LEADERBOARD
Alessandra Meoni continues to have a great season as she is ninth in the conference in hitting percentage (.314) as well as second in the conference and 27th in NCAA Division II in kills per set (4.02). Meoni is also 34th nationally and second in the conference in points per set (4.55) while leading the league in total kills (213) which is good for top 30 in the NCAA.
SCOUTING FORT LEWIS
Fort Lewis has not gotten off to a strong start to begin the year as they are sitting at 5-9 overall, with a 1-3 RMAC mark.
They are in the bottom half of the conference as a team in most statistical categories but sit in the top half in assists per set.
Ella Butler averaged .39 aces per set, while Alexis Hobie is their most dangerous hitter.
Hobie averages 2.97 kills per set and 3.29 points per set to each sit in the top 20 of the RMAC.
Natalia Lambos does a great job of finding her as she averages 8.86 assists per set and has a total of 434 on the season, both are top 10 in the RMAC.
LOOKING AHEAD
Following this weekend, the Hardrockers are heading to Denver as they meet up with Colorado School of Mines and MSU Denver on Friday, Oct. 18 and Saturday, Oct. 19.
You can find the latest on South Dakota Mines volleyball all year long on X and Instagram (@hardrockervb), while also following on Facebook at Hardrocker Volleyball. The latest on South Dakota Mines athletics can be found by following us on X at @GoHardrockers, hardrockerathletics on Instagram and Hardrocker Athletics on Facebook.
About South Dakota Mines
The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and NCAA Division II offering 13 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic programs. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 members, as well as four associate members, located in the states of California, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah.
