Maddie Owak

GOLDEN, Colo. -- The Lady Miner volleyball team dropped a pair of contests Friday on the first day of the Oredigger Volleyball Classic at Colorado School of Mines, falling to Western State 3-0 and Adams State 3-1.

UMR was involved in a close match with Western State to start the day, losing the three games by a total of seven points. The Mountaineers won the first game 30-27, then took the next two games 30-28 and 31-29.

Neither team had a lead of more than three points for most of the first game, with UMR building its biggest lead at 17-14 on a assisted block by Ashlyn Balensiefer and Samantha Klump. Western State took the lead for good at 23-22 in the midst of running off four straight points.

Western State led for the entire second game, but had to hold off a furious UMR rally at the end of the game. The Mountaineers led 29-24, but thanks to three straight kills by Lauren Summerville, the Lady Miners closed to within a point at 29-28. However, the run ended as did the game when WSU got a kill on the next point.

The Lady Miners then led for a good portion of game three, holding as much as a five-point advantage at one time. Western State caught up at 21, then it became a seesaw battle to the end. UMR went up 29-28 on Leandra Pelae's kill, but gave up the next three points to drop the match.

UMR had three players with at least 10 kills in the match, with Summerville leading the way with 11. Pelae and Maddie Owak posted 10 apiece, with Balensiefer posting 31 assists. Bridget Williams had 17 digs, while Balensiefer and Owak each had 10.

The Lady Miners then dropped the first two games of their match with Adams State by scores of 30-16 and 30-24 before taking game three 30-25. The Grizzlies were able to wrap up the match with a 30-19 win in the fourth game.

UMR never led in the first game and only held brief leads early in game two. But in the third game, UMR grabbed the lead in the midst of a 6-0 run and only trailed after that for two brief moments. Pelae's kill put the Lady Miners ahead for good at 17-16, then she finished the game with a service ace.

But after scoring the first point in the fourth game, Adams State scored seven of the next eight points to build a lead it wouldn't relinquish. UMR got as close as one at 8-7, but another Grizzly run of 12-5 allowed ASU to build its lead.

Pelae led UMR in the Adams State match with 10 kills, while Balensiefer had 27 assists and Williams had 20 digs.

UMR (0-6) will face Western New Mexico and Colorado School of Mines Saturday.