Gunnison, Colo.,   The Western Colorado volleyball team defeats Colorado School of Mines on Saturday evening for their Senior Night Game.
 
At the end of the match WCU honored four seniors, Myles Hilbert, Seyun Park, Nur Turkmenoglu and Kennedy Kelly, as they round out their careers as Mountaineers.
 
JUST THE FACTS
Final Score: Western Colorado defeats Mines 3-1 (25-22, 16-25, 26-24, 25-22)
Records: Western Colorado overall 12-15 (7-7 RMAC) | Mines overall 9-17 (5-9 RMAC)
Location: Gunnison, Colo. Paul Wright Gym
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Orediggers stuck first but Kelly answered back 1-1. CSM won the draw but Park with a hard hit saw a 2-2 score. WCU took a small lead 4-2 but the Orediggers responded with a 10-6 advantage. Western was down 17-11 but the Mountaineers were persistent in their efforts. WCU kept striking tying the score 18-18 then earning a 24-20 edge. Set point for WCU, the Orediggers didn't back down forcing the Mountaineers to call a timeout. Colorado Mines with the serve but Kelly with a soft touch to take set one 25-22.
• The first ten points went back-and-forth between the teams, putting the score tied at 5-5. CSM broke the tie, going on a seven-point run 12-5. Park ended the Mountaineer's drought with kill assisted by Turkmenoglu 12-6. WCU continued to trail by six 17-11. Kelly, Park and junior Pelin Aksoy added to the Mountaineers score, but the Oredigger offense took set two 25-16.
• Another neck-and-neck set started off with a few ties. The score at four-a-piece the Mountaineers earned a three-point lead 7-4. The Mountaineers pushed the score 11-7 but CSM tied it up at 11-11. Points were traded but the Mountaineers maintained their lead through out the set. The set winding down, the score was tied 24-24. Kills Aksoy and junior Olive Rolseth secured a third set victory for WCU 26-24.
• The Mountaineers took a quick 2-0 advantage. The Orediggers were able to grasp the lead 6-5. The next few minutes saw multiple ties that were all won by CSM. The final tie at 17-17 saw the Mountaineers on top 18-17. From there on WCU played excellent on both sides of the ball, resulting in a set win 25-22 and match win 3-1.

NET NOTES

• Kelly and Park led the offense respectfully with 18 and 16 kills. Rolseth and Aksoy finished with double-digit kills, 12 and 10.
• Turkmenoglu finished with 50 assists, an ace, two assisted blocks, two kills and 9 digs.
• Sophomore Chinaru Inoue led the defense with 18 digs while adding 3 service aces. Sophomore Kacee Garcia finished with 9 and Hilbert with 8.

UP NEXT
The Mountaineers earned the 8th seed in the RMAC playoff standings and will travel to MSU Denver for a first-round game.

For more information visit gomountaineers.com.