GUNNISON, Colo. – Western State Colorado University women's volleyball team will have one of the most important weekend of the season this weekend when they face Fort Lewis College and Adams State University. The Mountaineers face off with Fort Lewis Friday evening, a pink game in which the volleyball team with have five individuals donate their hair to cancer awareness during halftime in Paul Wright Gymnasium. The team then turns to the most important match on Halloween, a battle with Adams State University Saturday evening. The winner of the matchup Saturday will hold sole possession of seventh place in the conference and all but guarantee their spot in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament.
 
The Mountaineers are led by the tandem of Jordan Eatwell and Tori Gaherty. Eatwell leads the team with 236 kills, but close behind her with 214 is Gaherty. Gaherty has led the team in kills the past five matches, averaging over 13 kills per match in the span. She has an average hitting percentage of .260 in the past five matches, well over her season hitting percentage of .169.
 
Also for the tandem, Eatwell has 31 service aces thus far in the season, good for second in the conference. Her six aces in the match against Johnson and Wales is tied for second in Mountaineer history. She is on pace to finish with the sixth best season aces, a statistical area that hasn't been touched since Kim Sibert had 41 in 2006.
 
Defensively, libero Amanda Maestas is leading the conference with 401 digs this season. She is 13 digs away from tying the fifth-best season dig total in Mountaineer history and is on pace to break the all-time record of 488 set by Tanya Clark in 1995.
 
Up front for the Mountaineers, the duo of Avery Burkholder and Molly Hothan have combined for 134 total blocks. Burkholder has a team-high 70 total blocks, while Hothan leads the team with 10 solo blocks.
 
With five games remaining in the season, the conference race has tightened extremely. Colorado Mines leads the conference with an 11-2 conference record. There are five teams tied for second with a 10-3 record. In the final two positions are Western State and Adams State, tied for seventh. A game behind in ninth is Colorado Christian, and two games behind is CSU-Pueblo and Chadron State.