Nov. 16, 2002

Box Score

DENVER - The University of Denver volleyball team attacked on a .322 hitting percentage and clinched the final Sun Belt Conference Tournament slot Saturday night with a 3-0 sweep (30-20, 30-26, 30-22) of South Alabama at Hamilton Gymnasium. The Pioneers (7-18, 5-9) have won four of their past five matches and enter next week's Sun Belt Conference Tournament as the No. 8 seed. South Alabama ends its season at 5-20, 0-15.

The Pioneers were determined not to let their spot in the tournament slip away to the winless Jaguars. Denver tied a season-high with 53 kills in the three games and nearly had a season-best with 46 assists.

Junior Olympia Hughes (Casper, Wyo.) led a stellar Denver effort with 17 kills on 34 total attacks. Fellow junior Jen Karas (Granby, Colo.) had 11 and freshman Amanda Millard (Southlake, Texas) had perhaps the best match of her young career with a near-flawless seven kills in eight attacks with no errors.

The Pioneers were also very good defensively, as three Pioneers had double digits in digs, led by freshman Ashley Ball's (Chula Vista, Calif.) team-high 12. Freshman Kristin Halt (St. Charles, Ill.) and Hughes both added 10.

"This was the biggest match of the year," said head coach Beth Kuwata. "To say it was a must win was an understatement. We were a bit out of rhythm at the beginning and they were serving us tough. They forced us out of our set and we were not able to use our middle blockers as much as we like. But our outside hitters responded and had great matches. We hung in and believed in ourselves. It was a match we just had to have."

A postseason berth wasn't even on the minds of the Pioneers just two weeks ago, but four wins in their last five games secured the eighth and final spot in the tournament. Denver essentially clinched its spot last night with a win over New Orleans coupled with a Florida International loss to Arkansas State.

The eighth-seeded Pioneers will open the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Thursday when they take on top-seeded Western Kentucky (30-4, 14-0) at 10 a.m. MST.