University of Denver
8-2
UNLV
5-6
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nevada-Las Vegas | 26 | 17 | 26 | 16 | 1 |
| Denver | 24 | 25 | 28 | 25 | 3 |
Pioneers Rally to 3-1 Victory over UNLV
9/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
DENVER INVITATIONAL CENTRAL
DENVER The University of Denver volleyball team (8-2) defeated the UNLV Rebels (5-6) in a four-set thriller (24-26, 25-17, 28-26, 25-16) on Friday night at Hamilton Gymnasium in day one of the Denver Invitational, hosted by the Pioneers.
“What I’m most pleased with is that we continued to get better as the match continued,” said head coach Beth Kuwata. “Even though set three went beyond 25 points and was a close match, I think it was a momentum builder for us in set four. We felt that if we could keep pressure on them that it would bode well for us in the end.”
For the match, Denver hit 26.2 percent on 66 kills in 160 attempts. Three Pioneers finished the night with double-double performances as Emmy Davidsmeyer (Jr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) led the team with a season-high 19 kills while also notching 12 digs. Senior Holly Benson (Colorado Springs, Colo.) finished with 11 kills and led the team for the night with 18 digs, while setter Clare Maxwell (Sr., Western Springs, Ill.) tallied 11 kills and 48 assists.
Also contributing for the Pioneers was senior Kerry Porter (Western Springs, Ill.), who dominated at the net with 16 kills and a team-high four blocks.
“We did a great job on offense finding open looks from behind our setter,” Kuwata said. “About 80 percent of our kills during this match came from behind Clare and we did a great job of exploiting that.”
UNLV was lead by middle blocker Erin Greenwood who had 14 kills followed closely by Cursty Jackson and Jessica Walters, each with 13 kills apiece. The Rebels’ defense was lead by Camille Cunningham who finished with 15 digs, while Greenwood’s stuffed five blocks.
After dropping the first set to the Rebels 26-24, the Pioneers regrouped to take the second set 25-17. With the score tied 11-11, the Pioneers grabbed the lead off a kill by Benson and never looked back.
Denver strung together a 14-6 run to close out the set, spreading out their offense among Porter, Davidsmeyer, Jacqueline Paul (Sr., Albuquerque, N.M.), Jordan Raines (Fr., Coppell, Texas), Maxwell and Benson.
With both teams tied at one set apiece for the match, the third set was a close-fought battle as both teams continued to exchange points until the very end. The Pioneers took the final advantage of the set off a kill by Davidsmeyer and an attack error by Greenwood.
In the final set, the Pioneers kicked into high gear as they finished with 18 kills, marking a season-high for kills in the fourth set alone. Denver’s performance on offense was sparked by seven kills from Porter, helping the Pioneers finished with a 48.4 hitting percentage in the set. The Pioneers finished with 16 assists and 17 digs in the fourth set alone.
In the first match of the day, the Southern Methodist Mustangs defeated the Georgia State Panthers 3-1 (25-13, 25-22, 25-27, 25-17) to improve to 7-5 on the season. The loss drops the Panthers to 0-10 for 2008.
The Mustangs were led by Dana Powell’s 17 kills as Kathryn Wilkerson and Natalie Peters also contributed 12 and 11 kills apiece. Setters Kelli Becerra and Stefanie Kons finished with 27 and 20 assists, respectively, while Kendra Kahanek tallied five total blocks.
The Panthers were led by Ashley Jones’ 12 kills, while teammate Liz Schaab added 10 kills. Defensively, libero Audrey Cantrell dug 24 balls.
The Denver Invitational continues on Saturday morning as SMU and UNLV meet up for a 10 a.m. match, followed by the Pioneers’ match against Georgia State at 12:30 p.m. After a brief rest and recovery period, the excitement picks back up again as UNLV battles with Georgia State at 5 p.m. Denver closes out the tournament with a 7:30 p.m. match against SMU.
Live Stats will be offered for all matches during the Denver Invitational and can be viewed by visiting the Denver Invitational site on the Pioneers’ homepage.
- PIONEERS -
