Nov. 6, 2005

Box Score

DENVER - Junior Lisa Hunter (St. Louis, Mo.) tallied 15 kills and senior Amanda Millard (Southlake, Texas) notched 13 kills as the University of Denver volleyball team swept Troy 30-20, 32-30, 32-30 in a hard-fought win Sunday afternoon in Hamilton Gym. The Pioneers (14-9 overall, 7-4 Sun Belt) finished the season undefeated in Sun Belt play at home for the first time since 1999.

Sunday was also senior day for DU, where Sarah Adamis (Naperville, Ill.), Ashly Ball (Chula Vista, Calif.), Kristin Halt (St. Charles, Ill.) and Millard were honored prior to the match.

"This weekend, we really came out and fought for both wins," said head coach Beth Kuwata. "It might not have been the prettiest two matches, but a win is a win and we're happy that we were able to close out the conference season with an undefeated home record."

Fueled by a lively crowd, the Pioneers came out energized in game one, tallying 17 kills with a .419 attack percentage. Millard regained her swagger with a perfect seven kills on that many attempts. The Trojans kept their composure and stayed close behind, countering the DU attack with a solid defensive effort.

Games two and three were even closer, with several lead changes that kept the match up for grabs. In game two, the Trojans held a small lead early, but DU came back to tie the game at 22. Millard continued to have the hot hand, adding three more kills on eight attempts with only one error.

After taking game two, the Trojans continued to pressure DU, making the team work for the win in game three. Troy scored the first three points before Ball got the Pioneers on the board with a kill. The lead continued to wavier back and forth throughout the game with leading team holding no more than a two-point advantage. With Troy up 28-27, Ball tallied another kill on a tip ball to tie the game at 28. After a Troy timeout, a big kill by Hunter gave Denver its first match point at 29-28. An error by Millard left a crack in the door for Troy, however the senior would then follow up with a kill to secure Denver's third match point. A long rally ensued before an attack by Troy sailed long to seal the victory for the Pioneers.

As a team, the Pioneers finished with 53 kills and an attack percentage of .248. Defensively, DU notched eight team blocks with Ball, Kim Muller (Ballwin, Mo.) and Kerry Porter (Western Springs, Ill.) each credited with a solo stop.

The Pioneers close out the 2005 home season with a nonconference tournament Nov. 25-26, hosting Northern Colorado and Florida.