GOLDEN, Colo.  The national ranking did not intimidate Western Colorado Friday night in Lockridge Arena as the Mountaineers made host and 21st-ranked Colorado School of Mines work extra hard for what would turn out to be a 3-1 Oredigger win in a tight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference volleyball match.

Outside hitter Emily Mangone accumulated a match-high 18.0 points for Western in the gritty match.

THE ESSENTIALS
Final score: Colorado School of Mines def. Western, 3-1 (25-23, 25-21, 29-31, 25-14)
Records: Western 2-10 (1-4 RMAC), Mines (9-4 (4-1)
Location: Lockridge Arena, Golden, Colo.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Nationally-ranked Mines broke free from a series of early tie scores in the opening set to forge an eight-point lead at 20-12. Western turned the corner at that point, though, building momentum that would carry through the rest of the set and the following two sets.
• Trailing by seven, 21-14, the Mountaineers began a rally that brought them back to within a point, 24-23. The rally included two block assists and two kills by Caroline Parker, a solo block and two block assists by Jaeda Davis-Golliher, a kill from Mangone and a service ace by Lexi Wilmoth that pulled Western to within a point and was the second of consecutive set-saving points.
• Though Mines finished off that set with the final point, Western was the team that had earned momentum. Though slight, the Mountaineers led for much of the second set, not surrendering the lead until Mines scored three consecutive points to break a 16-16 deadlock. Four times after that CSM run would Western pull within one, but the Orediggers finally beat back the challenges with the final three points of the set for a 2-0 lead in the match.
• Like in the second set, Western would eventually take the lead, building to as great of a cushion as five points (20-15). Mines isn't ranked in the top 25 out of kindness, however, rallying back from set point at 24-21 to tie things up at 24-24.
• The Orediggers would fight off four set points and Western would fight off three before a Jordyn Todd kill broke a 29-29 tie and Mines would register an attack error on the next service to deliver a 31-29 set victory for the Mountaineers.
• Energy was at a premium as the lengthy match moved into the fourth set, and in the beginning, it was Mines that found something in the tank, racing out to a 5-1 lead forcing a Western timeout.
• The Mountaineers would battle back to within two, at 10-8, but that rush emptied Western's reserves with the Orediggers outscoring Western 15-6 over the remaining points to escape with the match victory.

NET NUMBERS

• Mangone's match-high point total came from 14 kills, a pair of service aces and four block assists. She also added a team-high 12 digs and was near perfect on serve receive, recording just one reception error in 32 opportunities.
• Davis-Golliher also reached double figures on the attack with 10 kills, and was Western's strongest presence at the net defensively, finishing with two solo and six block assists for a 15.0 night.
• Hailee Martinez matched her season high with 25 set assists and chipped in 7 digs for the defense.
• The Mountaineers improved their hitting percentage from the first to the third set -- .162, .175 and .308 – but were unable to further that progress in the deciding fourth.
• Davis-Golliher, Mangone, Parker (five block assists) and Randi Wellhoefer (three BA) spurred Western to 11.0 total blocks in the loss, while Mines recorded 7.0 during its win.

UP NEXT
Western heads to Chadron State College on Saturday for a 6 p.m. RMAC match. The Mountaineers have won the past two matches over the Eagles.