MURFREESBORO, Tenn. The University of Denver volleyball team saw its four-match winning streak come to an end as the Pioneers were swept by Sun Belt Conference opponent Middle Tennessee on Friday evening, 3-0 (20-30, 19-30, 19-30).

“First, part of our game plan was to extend the rallies and points and make defensive plays and I think throughout the whole match there were three and there should have been fifteen for us to win,” head coach Beth Kuwata said. “They are a great team, the most athletic of anyone we’ve played up to this point and we couldn’t handle their athleticism. They dominated us along the net and we were not able to make the defensive plays behind the block.”

In the first game of the match, the Pioneers tied the match at 5-5 on a kill by junior Kerry Porter (Western Springs, Ill.) and took the 6-5 lead on a MT attack error. The Blue Raiders ripped off a 12-2 run before MT’s Izabela Kozon had a service error to bring DU within 10. Denver cut the Blue Raider lead to nine late in the frame by capitalizing on consecutive MT errors but Middle Tennessee went on to win, 30-20. Denver hit .000 in the game.

DU fell behind early in game two, trailing 6-1, before pulling within one point of the Blue Raiders at 8-7. The Pioneers would pull within three points late in the game but Middle Tennessee closed out the game on an 8-1 run for the 30-19 win.

In the third frame of the match Denver played the Blue Raiders tight, leading by as many as four with an 18-14 lead in the game. Middle Tennessee rallied to take a 20-18 lead after a 5-0 run. The Pioneers would get within one after that but the Blue Raiders proved too dominant, going ahead for the 30-19 win.

The Pioneers' road trip continues on Saturday, Sept. 29 at 6 p.m. MT at Western Kentucky University.