Box Score DENVER -- The University of Denver volleyball team hit a season-high .317 and set a school record for block assists on their way to a 3-0 (15-11, 15-7, 15-1) sweep of New Orleans in Sun Belt Conference action Friday night at Hamilton Gymnasium. With the win, the Pioneers improve to 17-11 and 10-3 in the Sun Belt, are guaranteed a winning season and have clinched a first-round bye in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, to be played Nov. 16-19 in New Orleans. The Pioneers also retain sole possession of first place in the SBC West Division. UNO falls to 16-12 and 7-6 in the league.
The Pioneers dominated from the start, jumping out to a 7-0 lead in the first game and eased to the 15-11 win after the Privateers tied the game at 10-10. In the second game, Denver held UNO to a .019 hitting percentage, a number that dropped to -.074 in the third game. For the match, New Orleans hit just .040 as a team while the Pioneers slammed 48 kills on their way to a season-high .317 attack efficiency. Denver did not commit a hitting error in the third game as they hit .667 in the final set.
Junior outside hitter Kellie Savage (Arvada, Colo. / Arvada West HS) led the Pioneers with a match-high-tying 11 kills, while freshman middle blocker Olympia Hughes (Casper, Wyo. / Natrona County HS) had another stellar match at the net, hitting .571 with 10 kills; she also posted three blocks. Junior setter Clarice Golesh (Lakewood, Colo. / Mullen HS) had an excellent match offensively, peppering the Privateer defense with seven kills on dumps and hitting .538.
Hughes and Savage blocked an attack from UNO's Ann MacMillan to set up match point and also record the Pioneers' 507th block assist of the season, which is a new Denver school record that dates back to 1984.
"Tonight's win was huge for us to get the bye, because I don't think we can play four matches in a row in like the tournament requires of the lower seeds," said head coach Beth Kuwata. "Clarice Golesh put on a dumping clinic, and both of our middle blockers had a great offensive night."
Jessica Perdue led UNO with 11 kills and 11 digs.
The Pioneers compete in their final home contest of the 2000 season on Sunday when they face South Alabama at 1 p.m. Senior Sarah Kaye (Aurora, Colo. / Smoky Hill HS), who saw her first action Friday night in nearly a month after recovering from an ankle injury, will be honored in a pre-match ceremony.
DENVER VOLLEYBALLat Denver, Colo. (Hamilton Gymnasium)DENVER 3, New Orleans 0 1 2 3New Orleans (16-12, 7-6 Sun Belt) 11 7 1DENVER (17-11, 10-3 Sun Belt) 15 15 15UNO: Kills 36 (Jessica Perdue 11); Digs 38 (Perdue 11, Ann MacMillan 10);Blocks 7.0 (Mary Wanko 4); Assists 34 (Alison Howard 31).DENVER: Kills 48 (Kellie Savage 11, Olympia Hughes 10); Digs 48 (Lulu Sewell 12, Clarice Golesh 12); Blocks 8.0 (Kristin Savage 4, Jenn Karas 4); Assists 43 (Golesh 33).T: 1:17. A: 490.
