PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo volleyball returns to the road this weekend as they play two non-conference matches as part of a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Regional Pod held in Golden, Colo., and hosted by Colorado School of Mines.

The ThunderWolves, who have reeled off five straight wins and is currently in fourth place in the RMAC standings, opens the regional pod on Friday, Oct. 27 against Colorado Christian at 6 p.m., before facing Mines for the second time in eight days on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 5 p.m. The Pack collected a four-set home win over Mines last Friday at Massari Arena.

CSU Pueblo enters the weekend sporting a 10-10 overall record and an 8-2 mark in the RMAC after posting back-to-back four set wins last weekend at home against Mines and then sixth-ranked MSU Denver. The latter win snapped MSU Denver's league-record 48-match win streak in conference matches. The Pack has won nine of its last 12 matches since starting the season 1-7.

In the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll, the Pack were tabbed to finish fifth as they received 147 points in voting by the league's 15 head coaches. Last season, CSU Pueblo went 19-9 overall and 12-6 in the RMAC and advanced to the NCAA South Regional Tournament for the second consecutive season.

Friday's match-up with Colorado Christian will be the second this season and 47th all-time meeting with the series tied at 23-23 following the Pack's four-set win in Lakewood, Colo., on Oct. 14. The Pack has won seven straight and eight of the last 11 matches overall against the Cougars, while Saturday's match with Mines will mark the second this season and 68th overall with the Pack holding a 36-31 edge in the series. The Pack snapped a three-match losing skid to the Orediggers last Friday and is now 2-8 against the Orediggers in the team's last 10 match-ups.

ABOUT THE THUNDERWOLVES
Leading the way offensively for the Pack this season has been its three-headed tandem of redshirt sophomore outside hitter Payton Van Veen (Springfield, Mo./Washburn University) and sophomore outside hitters Sadie Scoville (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleasant Grove) and Kendall Harrington (San Antonio, Texas/Tom C. Clark). Those three have combined for 637 kills, 82 aces, 320 digs and 103 blocks and are hitting a combined .285 on the year.

Van Veen, who was named RMAC Offensive Player of the Week last week, leads the Pack in kills (236), kills per set (3.05), and is third in blocks with 48 and tied for fourth in aces with 17 and is hitting .271, while Scoville is second in both kills (213) and kills per set (2.84) and leads the team in digs (237), digs per set (3.16), is second in aces (29) and is hitting .271 and Harrington, who was named this week's RMAC Offensive Player of the Week, is third in kills (198) and kills per set (2.83) and has had 24 blocks and is hitting .314.  Scoville leads the team in double-doubles with nine and has posted double-digit kills in six of her last seven matches, while Van Veen has had four straight double-digit kill matches and Harrington is coming off a week where she hit .404 with 30 kills in the Pack's wins over Mines and MSU Denver.

The Pack offense is directed by junior setter Sabrina King (Parker, Colo./Lutheran) and senior setter Grace Jansen (Sandy, Utah/Jordan). King leads the team in assists with 394 and is averaging 5.25 assists per set and has had 130 digs and is third in aces with 24, while Jansen has recorded 386 assists and is averaging 5.15 assists per set and has had 141 digs and leads in aces with 36. Both Jansen and King have each recorded four double-doubles on the year.

One of the biggest strengths this season for the Pack is their ability to serve aces as they enter this week's action second in the league in total aces with 140 and also second in aces per set as they are averaging 1.87 per set. Five Pack players have recorded double-digit aces, including Jansen (36), Scoville (29), King (24) all recording 20 or more aces on the year. The Pack have had five or more aces in a match 16 times, including recording eight straight matches with five or more aces.

Another strength for the Pack is their blocking as they are averaging 1.89 blocks per set and have recorded 141.5 blocks on the year. Seven Pack players have recorded 10 or more blocks on the year with redshirt sophomore middle blocker Golden Finch (Albuquerque, N.M./Cal State Bakersfield) leading the way with 58 as she is averaging 0.94 blocks per set, which is ninth-best in the RMAC. She has had three or more blocks in a match 13 times, including a high of seven blocks at Black Hills State. In addition to Finch, junior middle blocker Josey Nunn (Kingwood, Texas/Porter) is second with 51, while Van Veen is third with 48 blocks. Scoville has had 31 blocks, while Harrington has had 24, blocks, freshman outside hitter Ceanna O'Loughlin (Beaverton, Ore./Jesuit) has had 15 blocks and freshman middle blocker Macy Wood (Sandy, Utah/Alta) has recorded 12. The Pack have had five or more blocks in a match 16 times, including a season high 10 blocks against both UCCS at the RMAC Regional Pod on Sept. 29 and at Chadron State two weeks ago.

In addition to Scoville who has recorded a team-leading 237 digs, freshman libero Maddox Richtmyre (Surprise, Ariz./Willow Canyon), who was named this week's RMAC Defensive Player of the Week after after averaging 4.0 digs per set in last weekend's wins over Mines and MSU Denver, is right behind Scoville in digs as she has recorded 202 and is averaging 3.11 per set. She has also had 17 aces and 55 assists on the year.

As a team, CSU Pueblo has recorded 980 kills,1,103 digs, 140 aces and is hitting .256 on the year, which is fourth-best in the league. The Pack are averaging 11.97 assists pet set, which is fifth-best in the RMAC and their opponents are hitting .211 on the year.

ABOUT COLORADO CHRISTIAN
The Cougars, who face Mines on Thursday before playing the Pack on Friday, come into this week's action sporting a 9-11 overall record and a 5-5 mark in the RMAC after sweeping matches last weekend at home against Westminster (3-1) and then No. 9 ranked Colorado Mesa (3-2). The Cougars, though, are just 3-5 in their last eight matches with one of those losses being a four-setter to the Pack.

Leading the way offensively for CCU is sophomore middle hitter Renee Phillips. Phillips is averaging 2.35 kills per set and is hitting .335, while senior outside hitter Alli Douglass is averaging 2.26 kills in 47 sets and is hitting .223. A third Cougar has recorded 150-plus kills on the season as junior outside hitter Abby Breeding has had 161 kills and is averaging 2.30 kills per set and is hitting .191.

Setting the table for the Cougars offense this season has been junior setter Izzy Jones, who is averaging 10.05 assists per set, which is fourth best in the RMAC. Along with leading the team in assists, she also leads in aces with 29 and is fourth in digs with 102 and has had 20 blocks.

Defensively, sophomore defensive specialist Jessamyn Rose is averaging 2.86 digs per set, while Breeding is averaging 2.27 digs per set. Phillips and junior middle hitter Lilly Woods have each recorded over 40 blocks on the season as Woods has had 60 blocks and averages 0.82 blocks per set and Phillips has had 55 blocks and is averaging 0.76 blocks per set.

As a team, CCU has recorded 930 kills, 871 assists, 955 digs and 127 blocks and is hitting .238, which is sixth-best in the RMAC and their opponents are hitting .240.

CCU is coached by Bobby Blanken, who is in his seventh season with the Cougars. He has compiled a 79-56 record at CCU and has led the program to double-digit wins in five of his first six seasons and has led the program to four RMAC Tournament appearances. Prior to working at CCU, Blanken served as the assistant head coach at MSU Denver from 2014-16.

In the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll, CCU has tabbed to finish in sixth place as the Cougars earned 127 points in the poll. Last season, CCU went 15-13 overall and 10-8 in the RMAC.

ABOUT COLORADO SCHOOL OF THE MINES
The Orediggers have been an up-and-down team most of the season as they were tabbed to finish fourth in the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll, but enter play this weekend sporting a 10-9 overall record and are 10th in the RMAC standings with a 4-5 record. The Orediggers, though, have won four of their last six matches with the two losses coming at South Dakota Mines and at CSU Pueblo last Friday.

Much like the Pack, Mines has played most of its matches away from home this season as the Orediggers have played just seven home matches. Mines is 6-6 away from home this season, but just 2-5 on the road in RMAC action.

Leading the way for the Orediggers offensively this season is graduate student outside hitter Rose Stuewe. Stuewe has recorded 241 kills and is averaging 3.30 kills per set and is hitting .236 on the year. She has recorded nearly 1,2000 career kills for Mines.

In addition to Stuewe, redshirt junior outside hitter Madison Glasco is second in kills with 187 and is also second in digs with 150 and is hitting .216. A third Mines player, senior opposite side hitter Shannon Perna has recorded 113 kills and is hitting .260.

Setting the table for the Mines offense is freshman setter Presley Powell. Powell is second in the RMAC in both assists (800) and assists per set (10.96). She has also had 136 digs and leads the team with 18 service aces.

Defensively, Mines is led by the blocking of sophomore middle blocker Morgan McChesney and redshirt freshman middle blocker Allison Jansen. McChesney leads the team with 44 blocks and is averaging 0.88 blocks per set, while Jansen has had 32 blocks and is averaging 0.54 blocks per set. Sophomore defensive specialist Jada Price leads Mines in digs with 283 and is averaging 3.88 digs per set.

As a team, Mines is hitting .237 and have recorded 963 kills, 912 assists, 1,005 digs, 133 blocks and 78 aces, while their opponents are hitting .232 on the season.

The Orediggers are coached by Jamie Magalei, who is in her 16th season with the Mines volleyball program. She has compiled a 349-118 record and is the school's all-time leader in both wins and winning percentage. Magalei has coached 31 All-Americans, three Academic All-Americans and 63 All-RMAC performers. In addition, she has led Mines to six regular season RMAC titles, five RMAC Tournament titles and 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

UP NEXT FOR PACK
Following this weekend's RMAC regional pod matches at Mines, the Pack will remain on the road as they play RMAC matches next weekend (Nov. 3-4) at Western Colorado and Fort Lewis. The Western Colorado match is scheduled for Nov. 3 at 6 p.m. in Gunnison, Colo., while the Fort Lewis match is set for 3 p.m. on Nov. 4 in Durango, Colo.