Last week, UCCS Volleyball ended back-to-back road matches against Colorado Mesa University and Westminster College with a 1-1 record.
After the split, the Mountain Lions’ season record is now 9-11 and 4-8 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
Colorado Mesa sweeps UCCS 0-3 in road match
To begin the Oct. 14 match against the Colorado Mesa Mavericks, the Mountain Lions took an early lead in the first set, 11-6. Senior outside hitter Hannah Ammerman, senior middle blocker Julia Geiger and junior middle blocker Nicole Medlin all contributed kills.
The Mavericks came back late in the set and tied UCCS, 18-18, after five unanswered points, including two kills. Geiger responded with a kill to put the Mountain Lions one point ahead, 19-18.
The two teams ended up scoring back-to-back until the Mavericks took the final lead and ended the set, 26-24.
Set two began with the Mountain Lions taking another comfortable lead, 8-4. Redshirt freshman setter Reilly Babcock was responsible for four assists. The lead was short lived, however, as the Mavericks came back and tied the match, 15-15. UCCS ended up losing the set, 25-17, scoring only two more points for the remainder of the set.
The Mountain Lions fell behind early in set three with the Mavericks taking an 8-4 lead, this time in their favor. UCCS never recovered as they lost the set, 17-25, and the match, 0-3.
Despite the loss, Geiger ended with a .562 percentage at the net with nine kills on 16 attempts. Freshman outside hitter/right side Brooke Leiker led the team with 13 kills and a .417 attacking rate. Freshman middle blocker Clara Benskin posted her first career block and had a career-high five attacks.
UCCS bounces back after loss to take Westminster down, 3-1
UCCS came back on Oct. 15 with a comfortable win against the Westminster Griffins.
The Mountain Lions took their first lead, 6-5, after a kill by Benskin off an assist from freshman setter Joei Barela.
UCCS found a comfortable four-point lead, 24-20, in the final moments of the set. With only one more score needed to win, Babcock passed it to Medlin for a kill to win, 25-20.
The Mountain Lions carried this momentum into the second set, finding an early 6-3 lead. Regen, Ammerman and Medlin all scored to help UCCS. The Griffins stayed behind for the entire set, mostly within two to three points.
UCCS found a wide lead late, 22-16. The Mountain Lions won the set, 25-16, with three unanswered points thanks to a kill from Geiger, a service ace error and a ball handling error.
With the Mountain Lions up in the match, 2-0, both teams traded scores and kills back and forth until late into the set when they tied, 21-21.
Errors by the Mountain Lions helped the Griffins take a three-point lead, 24-21. An error from the Griffins put UCCS within two points. But the Griffins finished the set with a final kill to win, 25-22.
Set four began similarly to the third set with an early 4-4 tie. The score stayed within two points or less as both teams traded points for most of the set.
The final tie of the match was at 21 apiece after UCCS took hold of the match off a service error from the Griffins and kills from Ammerman and Geiger. The Mountain Lions won the set, 25-22, and the match, 3-1.
Ammerman ended with a match high 16 kills and a .433 hit percentage on 30 attempts. Geiger followed behind with 11 kills and a .400 hit percentage. Babcock was responsible for 25 of UCCS’ 40 set assists.
Graduate student libero Jordyn Kinsey led both squads with 14 digs. She now has 1,065 total career digs and is just 83 digs away from stepping into the No. 3 spot in UCCS’s record book.
The Mountain Lions are returning home to the Gallogly Events Center on Friday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m. to host Chadron State College, and will follow with another home match against Colorado School of Mines on Sunday, Oct. 22, at 3 p.m.
