The Mountain Lions were defeated by the Adams State Grizzlies on Oct. 31 over the course of four sets, 3-1.
To begin the match, freshman outside hitter Payton Tompkins put UCCS immediately on the board with a kill to score the first point of the game. The opening set saw back-and-forth scoring with neither team able to pull away with more than a two-point lead until Adams State scored three in a row to win the set, 25-21. UCCS ended the first set with nine kills.
The second set began with a few mistakes from the Mountain Lions, giving away three straight points to Adams State. UCCS recorded a trio of kills early on, but Adams State began to build a strong lead between three and six points for much of the set.
The Grizzlies were up to 21 points when UCCS began to close the gap with a series of kills from Tompkins, junior setter Maylen Mitrovich and sophomore middle blocker Avery Ahlers. With Adams State at 24 points and on the verge of closing the set out, the Mountain Lions went on another scoring spree to take their first lead of the set with 25 points followed by points 27 and 28 from a kill by Mitrovich and two straight blocks from Mitrovich and Ahlers to tie the match up, 1-1.
With errors from UCCS to start the third set, Adams State maintained an early small lead that carried throughout its course, locking a 2-1 lead going into the fourth set.
The Mountain Lion starts set four with more errors, falling behind early and ultimately being unable to overcome a 10-point lead established by Adams State to conclude the set and secure the match for the Grizzlies, 3-1.
Tompkins was the team leader in kills with 17, followed by freshman outside hitter Emily Pruitt with nine. Junior libero Mckenzie Ransom and redshirt freshman setter Audrey Dowd each recorded a single ace.
The loss, which preceded their victory against Fort Lewis on Nov. 2, brought their overall season record to 10-12. The remainder of the volleyball team’s season will be spent at home, returning to play against the RMAC-leading Metro State Roadrunners on Friday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m.
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