UCCS volleyball ended their Oct. 21-22 matches with a 1-1 record, this time at home against Chadron State and Colorado School of Mines. After the split, the Mountain Lions’ season record was 9-11 and 5-9 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
UCCS sweeps Chadron State 3-0 in home match
In their first home match in nearly a month, the Mountain Lions took down the Eagles in straight sets, 3-0.
Several Mountain Lions worked to score kills early in the first set, including redshirt sophomore outside hitter Raegen Emery, senior right-side Tori Perduk, redshirt senior outside hitter Hannah Ammerman and senior middle blocker Julia Geiger.
The two teams stayed close throughout the opening set until redshirt freshman Reilly Babcock slammed the ball to the corner of the Eagles’ backcourt for the set-winning kill, 25-23.
UCCS found room to breathe earlier in the second set and scored five unanswered points, 15-10, thanks to errors from Chadron State and kills from Ammerman, Perduk and junior middle blocker Nicole Medlin.
UCCS stayed ahead for the rest of the set by four points or more. A slam from Medlin hit the center backcourt for a kill and ended the set, 25-17.
But the Eagles started hot in set three with a four-point lead, 4-0. UCCS trailed behind for most of the set. The Mountain Lions didn’t find a lead until late, 20-19, thanks to a kill from Ammerman.
With UCCS needing just one point to win, freshman setter Joei Barela passed the ball over to Emery, who found an opening in the Eagles’ defense for the match-ending kill, 25-21.
Graduate student libero Jordyn Kinsey ended with a team-high 16 attacks. Geiger led the match with 15 kills and a .345 attack percentage. Emery and Ammerman followed closely behind her with 12 kills apiece.
UCCS loses 0-3 against Colorado School of Mines
Following up their win against Chadron State, the Mountain Lions dropped their match against Colorado School of Mines in straight sets, 0-3.
Set one began with the Orediggers finding a comfortable 8-3 lead against the Mountain Lions after multiple UCCS errors.
Perduk cut the lead to four points by slamming down an assist from Babcock; however, this would be the smallest gap UCCS had for the entire set, as the team lost the set by nine, 25-16.
Nothing changed in set two as UCCS fell early, 5-3. A kill by Geiger from Barela cut the gap to one point. But the momentum continued in the Orediggers favor as attack errors, bad sets and service errors from the Mountain Lions helped the Orediggers win the second set, 25-19.
After three service aces in set three, the Mountain Lions found themselves ahead, 6-5, for the first time in the match. The Orediggers quickly closed the gap, but both teams traded off points throughout.
However, errors from the Mountain Lions allowed the Orediggers to widen their lead until they won the set by 10 points, 25-15, and the match 3-0.
The loss featured a season-low of 82 attacks and 27 digs for the Mountain Lions. The team also finished the match with 28 kills and a .134 attack percentage.
The Orediggers have won the last 16 matches in the series and are now 29-25 in the all-time rivalry.
The Mountain Lions went on the road over the weekend to South Dakota to face Black Hills State University on Oct. 28 and South Dakota Mines on Oct. 29.
Outside #5 Hannah Ammerman goes for the kill for UCCS. Photo by Meghan Germain.