DENVER -Led by an eight-kill effort from sophomore Faimie Kingsley (Brooklyn, N.Y.), the University of Denver volleyball team (12-14, 6-5 SBC) swept the University of South Alabama (9-14, 4-4 SBC) on Friday evening in Hamilton Gymnasium. The Pioneers turned in scores of 25-23, 25-19 and 25-19 to improve to 6-5 in conference play. Denver currently sits in third place in the SBC West Division.

"I'm proud of the way we fought tonight and were able to come back in both sets one and two from being down early," said head coach Beth Kuwata. "We finished very well tonight, which is something that we've struggled with this season. I'm really happy with the way the team responded after losing a tough match to CSU earlier in the week."

Along with her eight-kill effort, Kingsley also finished with three blocks, while junior Alyssa Bonelli (Superior, Colo.) finished with seven kills and three blocks. Senior Kresson Vreeman (Raymond, Minn.) led the way with 28 assists, while also finishing with six kills, nine digs and three blocks.

Defensively, senior Kacie Wikierak (Crystal Lake, Ill.) finished with 17 digs, while freshman Alex Turgeon (Cherry Hills Village, Colo.) tallied 14 digs.

Torlandria Jones led the Jaguars with 11 kills, while Juliana Almeida finished with 10 kills.

The Pioneers battled from behind in both sets one and two to take a two-set advantage into the break. In the first set, the Pioneers trailed almost the entire set and with the score tied 17-17, the Jaguars began to pull away once again, going on a three-point swing to take a 20-17 lead. However, the Pioneers used a 5-2 run to tie the score at 22-22, off serves from Turgeon and Wikierak. After a timeout called by the Jaguars, the Pioneers used kills from sophomore Lyndi Johnson (Flower Mound, Texas), Kingsley and Vreeman to seal the set, 25-23.

In the second set, the Pioneers found themselves down 6-1 quickly, forcing Kuwata to call a timeout to regroup. After the break, the Pioneers used a 9-4 run to tie the score at 10 apiece, but the Jaguars pulled away again to take a 16-12 advantage, forcing another timeout. Following the break, the Pioneers went on a 5-0 run to take a 17-16 lead, and then used an 8-3 run to close out the set 25-19.

Next up, the Pioneers remain at home to host the Troy Trojans in Hamilton Gymnasium on Sunday, Oct. 24 at 1 p.m. Fans can catch the action live on Pioneer Vision and follow along via Live Stats on DenverPioneers.com.

- PIONEERS -