On Thursday morning, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference announced its volleyball awards and South Dakota Mines was well represented due to its stellar season thus far. The team earned two major awards, three first-team honorees, and seven all-conference honorees.
Head Coach Lauren Prochazka earned RMAC Coach of the Year after directing the team to its first South Central Regional Ranking in school history. In her seven years, the turnaround has been tremendous, going from a one-win team before her arrival to having made three of the past four RMAC tournaments, along with top-four finishes the past two years. This season, the Hardrockers are 18-9 with an 11-3 mark in conference play leading to the aware, but over the last two years, her winning percentage is over .650 at 36-19 along with 21-7 in RMAC play and 17-3 at home in the King Center.
Hannah Benes was the other major award winner, as she was named RMAC Defensive Player of the Year and earned a spot on the RMAC All-Conference First Team. South Dakota Mines led the conference in digs per set and team digs, and Benes was integral to that. Benes earned two RMAC Defensive Player of the Week awards throughout the season and averaged 4.90 digs per set, which was third in the RMAC. The 2023 second-team all-conference selection continues to be a terror behind the service line, leading the league with .54 aces per set, 27th at the NCAA Division II level.
After being named a 2023 Second Team All-Conference selection, all-region, and all-american, Alessandra Meoni upped her game even further in 2024. Meoni averaged 4.06 kills per set, second in the conference by just .01 points behind the leader. Points per set were also close as Meoni finished just .05 points behind the leader, averaging 4.64 points per set. Those numbers are both 25th in NCAA Division II.
Meoni also posted eight double-doubles this season.
Fifth-year setter Kiley Metzger was the third first-team all-conference selection after being named Honorable Mention the past two seasons. Kiley was a nightly double-double and one of the best setters in the league. She will finish her career once the season ends with the second most assists in school history with over 3,500. Metzger averaged 9.94 assists per set this season, and 1,014 assists total. Both numbers are fourth in the RMAC and top-50 in NCAA Division II. Metzger has 17 double-doubles this season and nearly 50 for her career.
Also earning honorable mention were 2023 RMAC Freshman of the Year Ivy Vindivich and Jenna Curtis.
Vindivich averaged 2.67 kills per set in the season, with a season-best of 19 coming against Chadron State.
Curtis averaged 2.99 kills per set, among the top 20 in the RMAC. She also had her best game against Chadron in a different contest, with 18 kills, but she hit .533 percentage-wise against MSU Denver.
The entire teams are listed below or can be found here.
RMAC Volleyball First Team All-Conference
| Pos. |
Name |
Cl. |
School |
Hometown |
| OH |
Riley Anderson |
Sr. |
MSU Denver |
Monument, Colo. |
| DS/L |
Hannah Benes |
Jr. |
South Dakota Mines |
Antioch, Ill. |
| MB |
Amelia Davis |
Sr. |
Regis |
Denver, Colo. |
| MB |
Braiziah Dixon |
Jr. |
Regis |
St. Paul, Minn. |
| S |
Delaney Eckhardt |
Sr. |
MSU Denver |
LaSalle, Colo. |
| OH |
Annika Helf |
Jr. |
MSU Denver |
Emmendingen, Germany |
| OH |
Sierra Hunt |
R-Jr. |
Colorado Mesa |
Aurora, Colo. |
| OH |
Sydney Leffler |
Sr. |
Colorado Mesa |
Eaton, Colo. |
| MH |
Nicole Martin |
So. |
Colorado Mesa |
Colorado Springs, Colo. |
| OPP |
Alessandra Meoni |
Sr. |
South Dakota Mines |
Padova, Italy |
| S |
Kiley Metzger |
Gr. |
South Dakota Mines |
Rock Rapids, Iowa |
| OH |
Sadie Scoville |
Jr. |
CSU Pueblo |
Pleasant Grove, Utah |
| S |
Sabrina VanDeList |
R-Sr. |
Colorado Mesa |
Severance, Colo. |
| OH |
Maddy Williams |
Sr. |
MSU Denver |
Lamar, Colo. |
RMAC Volleyball Second Team All-Conference
| Pos. |
Name |
Cl. |
School |
Hometown |
| OH |
Alyssa Boyte |
Fr. |
MSU Denver |
Allen, Texas |
| OH |
Cindy Garcia |
R-Sr. |
Adams State |
Abiquiu, N.M. |
| RSH |
Kaitlyn Hall |
R-Fr. |
CSU Pueblo |
Colorado Springs, Colo. |
| OH |
Anna Huggins |
R-Sr. |
Adams State |
Albuquerque, N.M. |
| S |
Izzy Jones |
Sr. |
Colorado Christian |
Murphy, Texas |
| OH |
Hannah Kinnison |
R-Sr. |
Colorado School of Mines |
Sligo, Colo. |
| MB |
Kryssa Moerman |
Sr. |
MSU Denver |
Loveland, Colo. |
| MH |
Mailei Myers |
Jr. |
Westminster |
West Jordan, Utah |
| OH |
Abigail Newell |
Sr. |
Colorado Christian |
San Diego, Calif. |
| MB |
Seyun Park |
Sr. |
Western Colorado |
Anyang, South Korea |
| MH |
Renee Phillips |
Jr. |
Colorado Christian |
Fresno, Calif. |
| OH |
Halle Theis |
Gr. |
CSU Pueblo |
Geneva, Neb. |
| OH |
Payton Tompkins |
Fr. |
UCCS |
Dallas, Texas |
| MH |
Lilly Woods |
Sr. |
Colorado Christian |
Watertown, S.D. |
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
