GOLDEN, Colo. – With three matches left in the season, Western Colorado University heads to the Front Range for two tough Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference matchups. Friday, Western faces Colorado School of Mines at 7 p.m. On Saturday, Western heads down 1-25 for match against University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Western (2-21, 1-14 RMAC) will close out the season with three strong tests against RMAC competition.

On the season, Western has several players factoring among the top statistical performers in the RMAC. Sophomore setter Hanna Hendrickson has been a reliable court presence, distributing 606 assists across 78 matches thus far. Hendrickson's 7.77 assists per set is 10^th best in the RMAC.

On the baseline, senior defensive specialist Cammi Baumann has recorded 22 service aces. Her .32 per set average is fourth-best in the conference.

Offensively, Kirsten Companik and Kathleen Kasel continue to pace Western with 135 and 145 kills apiece.

At Lockridge Arena, Western faces the top-ranked team in the RMAC - Colorado School of Mines (20-3, 14-1 RMAC). In 2018, Mines is 9-1 at Lockridge Arena. Receiving votes in the AVCA National Poll, the Orediggers were also recently rated the third-best team in the South Central Region.

In the midst of a three match win streak following a surprise loss to Colorado Christian University, Mines hosts Western who carries a 29-26 advantage in the all-time records between the programs.

The Orediggers boast the most prolific offense in the RMAC. Mines leads the conference in kills, hitting percentage, and assists. They have also managed to tally the second-most service aces throughout the season.

Setter Drew Stokes leads the Oredigger offense with an RMAC best 11.69 assists per set.

At the Gallogly Events Center, Western faces a different test against UCCS (11-12, 9-6 RMAC).

The Mountain Lions are streaky team with a 4-3 record at home. Currently seventh in the RMAC standings, UCCS will finish a home stand before closing the regular season the road next week.

When Western faces UCCS, they will encounter a statistically balanced team trying to hold on to a position in the RMAC Tournament. Before this weekend, the all-time series between the teams is knotted at 21. 

Following a theme for the weekend, setter Raelynn Edge provides leadership on the court for the Mountain Lions.

Be sure to tune in to gomountaineers.com to catch all the action through live video and live stats all throughout the weekend.