Box Score DENVER Junior Holly Benson (Colorado Springs, Colo.) recorded a double-double as the University of Denver volleyball team ended its two-game skid and dropped Sun Belt Conference opponent Florida Atlantic 3-0 (30-18, 30-24, 30-28) Friday evening in Hamilton Gymnasium.
“I think the most important thing is that we won game three after being down,” head coach Beth Kuwata said. “In practice this week, we have been talking about rising to the challenge and battling back. I’m happy to say that we did that tonight.”
Benson had 12 kills and 14 digs and was part of three blocks. Senior Alyssa Hampton (Parkville, Mo.) had 12 kills and senior Kim Muller (Ballwin, Mo.) recorded 11. Sophomore setter Clare Maxwell (Western Springs, Ill.) led all players with 49 assists while freshman libero Kacie Wikierak (Crystal Lake, Ill.) had 17 digs. Muller and junior Kerry Porter (Western Springs, Ill.) joined Benson with three block assists on the night.
Denver (9-9, 3-2 SBC) hit .283 in the match with 54 kills, 52 assists and 50 digs.
In the first game of the match Denver and FAU (6-11, 3-4 SBC) kept close until DU took the 6-5 lead on an Owl service error. Denver would pull ahead on a 13-7 run and eventually win the game, 30-18. DU hit .400 in the game, led by Benson’s .625 (6-of-8). The Pioneers had 18 kills in the frame.
The Owls pulled out to an early 5-1 lead in the second frame, but Denver would tie it up at 5-5 by capitalizing on two FAU errors. The two teams would tie it up 11 more times, the last at 18-18 when Denver would take the 19-18 lead on a kill by Muller. The Pioneers then went on a 9-2 run and led by as many as six on the way to the 30-24 win. Denver hit .217 in the game with 17 kills including five each by Muller and Benson.
The Pioneers came out slowly in the third game, falling behind 12-7 and forcing Coach Kuwata to call a timeout. The Pioneers responded with a 6- 1 run to tie the game at 13-13. A pass by libero Wikierak led to Hampton recording a kill that knotted the game at 24-24. A kill by Alyta Baris (Belvidere, Ill.) gave Denver the 25-24 lead. However, FAU would go on a 4-1 run to take the 28-26 lead. Denver would tie the game at 28-28 on an attack error by the Owls and take the lead on a service ace by freshman Kresson Vreeman (Richmond, Minn.). Denver closed out the game and the match on an error by FAU off another Vreeman serve.
The Pioneers play Florida International on Sunday, Oct. 7 at noon in Hamilton Gymnasium.
