Oct. 5, 2001

Box Score

BOULDER, Colo. - Sara Villwock led all players with 17 kills as the University of Colorado swept the University of Denver (30-21, 30-16, 30-28) in non-conference volleyball action Friday night at the Coors Events Center. CU improves to 8-4 with the win, while Denver (6-7) has its two-match win streak halted.

Sophomore outside hitter Jenn Karas (Granby, Colo. / Middle Park HS) and senior outside hitter Kellie Savage (Arvada, Colo. / Arvada West HS) each had eight kills to lead the Pioneers. In addition, freshman middle blocker Mary England (Castle Rock, Colo. / Chaparral HS) led all players with 10 kills.

The Buffs took charge in game one, staking out to leads of 10-4 and 23-11 before Denver started a comeback. Two Kellie Savage kills helped the Pioneers along to a six-point stretch. But the Pioneers could not consistently defend CU's swing offense, which attacked at a .294 clip and did not yield a Denver block. The Pioneers, meanwhile, could muster only a .054 hitting percentage in the first frame.

Game two saw Colorado dominate from the start, as the Buffs won 15 of the first 19 points. The Pioneers were limited to just six kills in the game - hitting -.107 in the process - while CU had 17 kills and hit .278. In the game, freshman setter Emilee Gihring (Idaho Falls, Idaho / Skyline HS) registered a kill on her first collegiate attack, a dump over the CU block.

After falling behind 5-1 in the third game, Denver finally got on track with its longest sustained rally of the match. The Pioneers took their second lead of the match at 10-9 on a block by sophomore Andrea Baron (West Vancouver, British Columbia / West Vancouver HS) and senior Clarice Golesh-Burch (Lakewood, Colo. / Mullen HS). The Pioneers had as lead as large as four at 17-13, yet the Buffs would not go down easily. The two teams played point-for-sideout volleyball until the Buffs won three straight points to take a 27-25 lead. The teams would again return to trading points, yet when Karas' final attack sailed long, the Buffs had their fifth win in the series.

"If we would have played the first two games the way we played the third game, I would have been happy," said head coach Beth Kuwata. "Colorado doesn't make many errors, they force you to make the play. We needed to touch the ball more at the net early on. We made them change their shots a little in the third game, and that made a difference to a degree."

The Pioneers resume Sun Belt Conference play on Sunday with a 2 p.m. match at New Mexico State.