Box Score DENVER The University of Denver volleyball team fell in four games to Western Kentucky University, 3-1 (30-26, 28-30, 19-30, 26-30) in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference tournament on Friday evening in Hamilton Gymnasium. Denver concludes its season with a 22-12 record, while WKU improves to 27-7.
“WKU put all kinds of pressure on us tonight in the serving game,” head coach Beth Kuwata said. “They are one of the toughest serving teams we have played in a long time. We haven’t been out played defensively in weeks but tonight WKU played phenomenal defense and we couldn’t match that.”
The Pioneers and Lady Toppers stayed close throughout much of the first game. The two teams combined for eight ties, the last at 24-24 when WKU’s Brittany Bowen tied the game for the Lady Toppers. The Pioneers then went on a 5-1 run, in which senior Kim Muller (Ballwin, Mo.) had three kills and recorded a block, pushing DU out to a 29-25 lead. WKU staved off one game point to get within three but Muller recorded another kill as the Pioneers won the first game, 30-26. The two teams’ stats were almost identical in the first game, but DU held the edge in hitting percentage with .417. Muller was perfect in the game, going 7-for-7 for 1.000. Senior Alyta Baris (Belvidere, Ill.) added five kills while hitting .714.
Tied 13-13 in game two, the Pioneers ripped off a 5-1 run to give DU an 18-14 lead. During that run WKU committed four errors. Western Kentucky trailed by five but went on an 8-2 run to take a 27-26 lead. DU tied the frame at 27-27 on a kill by junior Kerry Porter (Western Springs, Ill.) but the Lady Toppers edged the Pioneers out once again at 28-27 on a kill by Jenna Gideon. A WKU service error retied the game at 28-28 but back-to-back Lady Topper kills gave WKU the game, 30-28. WKU gave DU nine points but managed to hit .364 in the set while the Pioneers hit .184. Denver had 3.0 blocks in the game.
Denver came out slow in the third game, trailing 7-1 early. DU recorded three unanswered to pull within three points at 7-4 but could never pull any closer. Trailing by five at 19-14, WKU went on a 5-0 run and pushed its lead to 10 points. A kill by Muller halted the run but Western Kentucky University went on to win the game, 30-19. The Pioneers hit .088 and committed eight attack errors in the game, while the Lady Toppers hit .389. WKU also recorded 6.0 blocks in the game.
Trailing 5-1 to start the fourth game, Denver went on a 9-5 run to tie it at 10-10. The Lady Toppers took a 17-12 lead but DU answered with 6-3 run to get within two points at 20-18. The Pioneers got within one at 23-24 after an ace by freshman Kacie Wikierak (Crystal Lake, Ill.). DU got within one again at 25-26 after an attack error by Gideon but WKU closed out the match on a 4-1 run to win the game, 30-26. Denver committed 15 errors in the game but hit .214. Porter notched six kills, while junior Holly Benson (Colorado Springs, Colo.) added four.
Muller led the way with 21 kills for DU, while Benson added 14. Benson became the 10th player in Pioneer history to record 1,000 kills. Freshman Kresson Vreeman (Raymond, Minn.) led DU with 49 assists and Wikierak had 11 digs. DU had 10.0 total blocks and hit .227 in the game.
The SBC Tournament will conclude on Saturday, Nov. 17 as No. 1-seed Middle Tennessee takes on No. 3-seed Western Kentucky at 3 p.m. in Hamilton Gymnasium.
