DENVER The University of Denver volleyball team (21-4, 10-2 SBC) defeated the Arkansas State Redwolves (20-8, 9-5 SBC) 3-1 (25-23, 15-25, 25-20, 25-23) on the road on Friday evening at the Convocation Center in Jonesboro, Arkansas.  The win marks the fourth straight for the Pioneers and secures their first place spot in the SBC West Division with a 10-2 record.

 

“We played a tough match tonight against a very good Arkansas State team,” said head coach Beth Kuwata. “I was proud of how we came back in sets three and four and were able to keep our composure. Emmy played a great game and really provided an offensive spark among our hitters.”

 

Junior Emmy Davidsmeyer (Colorado Springs, Colo.) paced the Pioneers with her second 18-kill performance of the season as she finished with a .630 hitting percentage, eight digs, two assists and one service ace. Senior Holly Benson (Colorado Springs, Colo.) rounded out the double-digit kill performances as she finished with her 14th double-double performance of the season with 13 kills and 13 digs.

 

Setter Clare Maxwell (Western Springs, Ill.) finished with 41 assists, making it her 12th 40+ assist performance of the season. So far, Maxwell has 976 assists on the season for a 10.73 assists per game average.

 

Defensively, the Pioneers were led by libero Kacie Wikierak’s (Crystal Lake, Ill.) 18 digs, giving her a team-leading 345 digs for the season. Benson also contributed on the defensive side adding 13 digs to the Pioneers 50 for the game. Wikierak also helped offensively, serving a game-high four service aces.

 

The Pioneers will return to the court on Sunday afternoon in an early match-up with the Trojans of Arkansas Little Rock at 11 a.m. (MT) in Little Rock, Arkansas. Denver is 5-8 against UALR and will put its four-match win streak to the test.

 

 

- PIONEERS -