RAPID CITY, S.D. — South Dakota Mines regretfully announces the withdrawal from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference women’s volleyball tournament due to COVID-19 issues announced by the Hardrocker Athletic Dept. Tuesday morning in Rapid City, South Dakota.
“It is with great disappointment that I announce the South Dakota Mines volleyball program must withdraw from the RMAC tournament,” said Hardrocker Athletics Director Joel Lueken. “It was a challenging year to say the least. Our volleyball program overcame many obstacles to get to the post-season only to have the journey end before it begins.”
The Hardrockers were set to enter the RMAC tournament as the No. 6 seed and would have faced the No. 3 ranked CSU Pueblo ThunderWolves on Thursday in a quarterfinal match.
The match will now be declared a no contest following the application of COVID-19 protocols involving the Hardrockers. Following the predetermined RMAC policy, CSU Pueblo shall advance within the bracket and play in the semifinals Friday.
The premise of the RMAC COVID-19 policy as approved by the RMAC Presidents Council, from the very beginning of the current academic year, has been to rely on each institution’s local public health authority to determine the status of a contest following COVID-19 screening protocols.
The Hardrockers qualified for the playoffs and would have entered the tournament with a 5-9 overall record and 5-7 mark in the conference. This season is also the first time South Dakota Mines would have advanced to the RMAC post-season for the program.
