DENVER, Colo. (Nov. 10, 2022) - The 5-seeded Colorado State University Pueblo volleyball team laid it all on the line and battled back from being down a set and forced a fifth and final set against 4-seeded and No. 22 Colorado School of Mines before falling 2-3 (25-20, 18-25, 29-31, 25-21, 13-15) to the Orediggers in an RMAC Tournament Quarterfinal match-up at Auraria Event Center in Denver.

RMAC Freshman of the Year Payton Van Veen ended with a team-high 15 kills and four aces. Jazzy Espinoza ended with eight blocks and chipped in another 10 kills.

Josey Nunn was a force at the net and earned six blocks and Megan Mattingly added five of her own.

In the final game of four on the day inside MSU Denver's Auraria Event Center, the conference champion, CSU Pueblo took a second to spark the offense and trailed 8-9 early before scoring four straight points. 

After a side-out, the ThunderWolves were back on offense and went on a six-point rally causing Mines to call the first timeout with the Pack ahead 18-10.

The Pack kept their foot on the pedal coming out of the timeout and secured a 25-20 win, behind four aces in the set and three kills each from Bailey Combs and Van Veen.

In the second set, the teams started in a 2-2 tie when Espinoza and Mattingly started a five-point rally with Thibadeau at the serve.

In the scoring rally, Espinoza recorded two blocks.

Mines responded and went on a 5-0 run and tie the match at 7-7.

Costly attack errors from the Pack midway through the set gave the Orediggers momentum to take a 10-7 lead.

CSM extended its lead and the high powered offense went on and tied the match at 1-1 after a 18-25 set two win.

Starting the third set, CSU Pueblo's offense again started out strong and went out to a 5-2 lead thanks to a pair of kills by Mattingly.

Mines slowly inched their way back into the game and evened the score at 7-7 before Sabrina King scored the fifth ace of the match at that point for the ThunderWolves to stay ahead by two, at 9-7.

The match went back-and-forth before the Orediggers went on a 7-2 run causing a CSU Pueblo timeout.

Out of the huddle, the Pack continued their fight back and got within a point, 16-17 off a kill by Van Veen.

CSU Pueblo took a one-point lead and a long rally resulted in a ThunderWolves point and following another big defensive play, the ThunderWolves found themselves ahead 21-18.

Mines answered back with two blocks and a kill to even the score at 21 apiece.

The teams continued to battle for serve and the score got knotted at 24-24. Both squads reached five points beyond the target and stayed tied until back-to-back kills with the score tied up at 29, gave CSM a two-point, 29-31 win in set three.

In the fourth set, Mines went on a 4-0 run to start and the Pack earned a side-out for a point before the Orediggers got the serve back and gained a 5-1 lead.

Following a side-out and Van Veen at serve, she and the Pack defense earned a block at the net and continued to do their part in staging a comeback. CSU Pueblo went on a 6-0 run and took a 13-10 advantage. 

A block from Mines was followed quickly by a kill from Van Veen.

The ThunderWolves offense kept the pressure on the Orediggers and resulted in a timeout after building a 15-11 lead.

Out of the timeout, Mines took the next five points before the Pack got the serve back with the game tied at 16-16.

Next in line to serve for the Pack, Thibadeau scored three points in a row, resulting in a second timeout by Mines.

The Pack ended the set on a 5-0 run to tie the match at 2-2 with a 25-21 fourth set win.

In the fifth and final set, the teams continued the evenly played match and CSU Pueblo went ahead 8-7 before switching sides.

After the swap, the offense from Mines flexed its muscle and went on a 7-4 run to take the final set, 11-15 and win the match 3-2.

CSU Pueblo (19-8) entered the week in the No. 8 spot in the NCAA South Central Region and will wait to see if they earn an at-large berth when the bracket is released on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.