• Box Score

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Colorado State hit a sizzling .495 as a team and Courtney Cox led all players with 16 kills to lead the Rams to a 3-0 (15-3, 15-4, 15-3) sweep of the University of Denver in non-conference volleyball action Tuesday night at Moby Arena. The loss breaks a three-match winning streak for the Pioneers (10-9), while CSU, ranked No. 3 in the nation, improves to 19-1.

The Pioneers had to juggle their lineup due to an ankle sprain suffered by senior Sarah Kaye (Aurora, Colo. / Smoky Hill HS) during practice on Monday. Taking her place in the outside hitter spot was sophomore Lulu Sewell (Gardnerville, Nev. / Douglas HS) who had six kills on the night. Denver was paced by junior OH Kellie Savage (Arvada, Colo. / Arvada West HS) who recorded nine kills.

CSU slowly rattled off the first nine points of the game before the Pioneers scored on a Savage kill. The Pioneers would earn two more points on Kristin Savage's serve before the Rams finished off the game, 15-3.

Game two was much the same, with the Rams rolling out to an 8-0 lead. The Pioneers staved off several game points before CSU prevailed.

Denver earned the first point of the third game on a setter dump by junior Clarice Golesh (Lakewood, Colo. / Mullen HS) and tied the game at 3-3 on a pair of attack errors from Cox before the Rams gradually scored the match's final 12 points.

"We knew coming into this match that we needed to play a near-perfect match to stay with Colorado State," said head coach Beth Kuwata. "They make you earn their points, and they make the game look really easy. We've been having our best success with teams that run high-risk plays and make their own errors, and they are definitely not that kind of team."

The Pioneers continue their road trip with weekend Sun Belt Conference matches at Middle Tennessee State (Friday, 6 p.m. MDT) and Western Kentucky (Sunday, noon MDT).

DENVER VOLLEYBALLat Fort Collins, Colo. (Moby Arena)#3 Colorado State 3, DENVER 0                                1       2       3DENVER (10-9)                   3       4       3#3 Colorado State (19-1)        15      15      15DENVER: Kills 29 (Kellie Savage 9); Digs 24 (Lulu Sewell 8);         Blocks 2.0 (Four with 1); Assists 27 (Clarice Golesh 19).COLORADO STATE: Kills 54 (Courtney Cox 16); Digs 38 (Krista                Swartzendruber 14); Blocks 6.0 (Angela Knopf 4);                 Assists 49 (Allison Peckham 31).T: 1:15. A: 1,026.