UCCS volleyball ended back-to-back road Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference matches against Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines with two wins last week.
After the sweep, the Mountain Lions have an even 12-12 record and a 7-9 conference record.
UCCS sweeps Black Hills State, 3-0
The Mountain Lions entered the tail end of the regular season on Oct. 28 against the Black Hills State Yellowjackets.
UCCS found their first lead thanks to two Yellowjacket attack errors and a kill by redshirt freshman setter Reilly Babcock from an assist by graduate student libero Jordyn Kinsey.
Late in the set, UCCS reached a comfortable 20-14 lead. Kills by redshirt outside hitter Hannah Ammerman, sophomore right side Tori Perduk and junior middle blocker Nicole Medlin and multiple errors from the Yellowjackets allowed UCCS to keep the lead, winning the set, 25-18.
Set two began with both teams trading points back and forth, tying at 9-9. Ammerman slammed the ball into the side corner of their court to help the Mountain Lions take their first lead of the set, 10-9.
Despite the kill, the Mountain Lions never found a comfortable lead, and were only up 24-23 late. With only one point to win the set, freshman setter Joei Barela found Ammerman who slammed another kill down to win the set, 25-23.
The Yellowjackets responded in set three with an early 14-8 lead thanks to a pair of errors and bad sets from several Mountain Lions.
However, UCCS hit their stride and began a comeback with kills from Ammerman, Babcock and redshirt sophomore outside hitter Raegan Emery on top of several Yellowjacket errors. The Mountain Lions. found a lead late, 18-17, and never pulled the brakes. The team won the set, 25-20, and swept the match, 3-0.
Babcock led the offense with 19 set assists, seven kills and a .538 hitting mark while also serving seven attacks. Ammerman followed behind her with nine kills and seven digs.
According to gomountainlions.com, the sweep was the seventh for the Mountain Lions this season, and their fourth in conference play.
Mountain Lions win big in conference match up against South Dakota Mines, 3-1
The Mountain Lions’ match against the South Dakota School of Mines Hardrockers on Oct. 29 began with a strong 8-3 lead.
Later in the set, a Hardrockers attack error put UCCS up, 24-19. With only one point needed to win, Perduk passed to Ammerman, who hit the ball in for the kill and helped UCCS take the set, 25-19.
The Mountain Lions carried the momentum into set two, finding a 13-10 lead in the middle of the set. However, the Hardrockers quickly shifted the game in their favor with a 16-14 advantage.
Six unanswered points, including three kills from Ammerman, and two attack errors put UCCS up, 20-16. The Hardrockers only scored one more point for the rest of the set and the Mountain Lions won, 25-17.
The Mountain Lions had just one lead in set three thanks to a bad set by the Hardrockers. After that, the Hardrockers kept their distance, keeping UCCS behind and winning the set, 25-18.
With a 2-1 lead for the match, the Mountain Lions needed to win one more set. The fourth set began close with both teams trading off scores, 4-4. This ended up being the only time for the rest of the match that the two teams were tied.
The Mountain Lions took control, finding a 17-11 lead. A kill by Emery from Geiger added one more point to that lead.
The set and match ended with Perduk jumping to block a hit from the Hardrockers. The Mountain Lions forced them to concede the set, 25-15, and the match, 3-1.
Ammerman and Babcock both recorded career highs in digs, 20 and 19 respectively, and Geiger Perduk recorded career highs with four blocks each.
The Mountain Lions will close out their regular season with two home games against MSU Denver on Friday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. and Colorado Christian University on Saturday, Nov. 5, at 3 p.m.
#1 Setter Reilly Babcock, #3 Middle Nicole Medlin, and #5 Outside Hannah Ammerman. Photo by Meghan Germain.