Oct. 17, 2004

DENVER - Thanks to four players recording at least 10 kills and a .298 team hitting percentage, the University of Denver volleyball team held on for a 3-1 (30-25, 26-30, 30-22, 30-24) win over Middle Tennessee Sunday afternoon in Hamilton Gymnasium. Denver won back-to-back matches for the first time in three weeks and improves to 10-9 on the season, 4-4 in the Sun Belt Conference. Middle Tennessee drops to 10-10, 4-3.

Denver won the first game 30-25 behind eight kills from senior Kristin Halt (St. Charles, Ill.) and a .279 hitting percentage. Six Pioneers had at least one kill in the game and Denver's defense limited MTSU to just 14 kills and a .132 hitting percentage, its lowest of the match.

Denver dropped the second game but rebounded to win the third behind a match-high .438 hitting percentage. The Pioneers recorded 15 kills and committed just one error and despite MTSU holding a 20-15 kill advantage, got a 30-22 game three win for a 2-1 lead.

Denver's defense was the difference in the clincher, as the Pioneers limited MTSU to just a .157 hitting percentage and won 30-24 despite being out-killed again by the Blue Raiders. Middle Tennessee held a 69-65 kill advantage in the match but Denver was much more efficient on offense, holding a .298 - .208 attack percentage edge.

Four Pioneers recorded double digits in kills paced by Halt's season-high 15. Both freshman Alyssa Hampton (Parkville, Mo.) and senior Amanda Millard (Southlake, Texas) had 12 and freshman Sarah Wirth (Sacramento, Calif.) had 11 for the Pioneers, who moved one game over .500 for the first time since Oct. 3 and climbed right back in the race for the Sun Belt's West Division.

"It was a great weekend for us and the outcomes of these matches couldn't have been better," head coach Beth Kuwata said. "The best part about this match was that we prepared to key on three of their players to try to slow them down and for the most part we were successful. We did a great job today."

Denver is next in action on Friday, Oct. 22 when it travels to take on Florida International at 5 p.m.