DENVER -The University of Denver volleyball team was unable to overcome an early deficit at the hands of the 13th-ranked Purdue Boilermakers in the final match of the Denver Invitational as it fell in four sets (25-17, 17-25, 25-21, 25-19).

Denver (2-4) was on the heels of the Boilermakers the entire match, and even gave Purdue its first set loss of the season after the Big Ten power swept all five of its previous opponents.

"I was really pleased with the effort and the sustained level at which we played and if we would have managed a few points better it could have gone either way," said head coach Beth Kuwata. "I think if we can continue to sustain the level that we played tonight, we could be a fantastic team in November."

Senior Julia Cawthra (Lakewood, Colo.) led the Pioneers with 36 assists and a .286 hitting percentage. Junior Faimie Kingsley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) tallied nine kills and seven blocks, while Alex Turgeon (Cherry Hills Village, Colo.) led the Pioneers in kills with 12.

DU was involved in a marathon-match with the Boilermakers in the first set as both sides went point-for-point early on. After the Boilermakers were able to run off three straight points, DU responded with a 7-2 run on two kills by senior Alyssa Bonelli (Superior, Colo.) with freshman Kate Acker (Waukesha, Wis.), who also got into the action with a kill of her own. Despite the late set energy, Purdue's outside hitters proved to be too much in the long run.

The Pioneers responded and set the tone early on in the second set as they took a 7-2 lead in the beginning and never looked back. Cawthra recorded two straight aces as DU was able to take advantage of the Boilermakers sloppy play on the net. A set point kill by Kinglsey gave the Pioneers the set victory and the Boilermakers their first set loss of the season.

The third set did not differ much from the second as the Pioneers came out strong and led for the majority of the set. Cawthra recorded her third service ace of the match early on as Denver started the set off with a 5-1 run.  After going point-for-point once again, the Boilermakers tied it up at 10 apiece. The third set saw four ties along with four lead changes and although Denver made a late surge, the Boilermakers took advantage of their outside hitting success all tournament long and put DU away.

Although DU and Purdue were neck and neck in the fourth set, the Pioneers were unable to capitalize on a late run and fell after battling hard all match.

Earlier today, the Boilermakers swept the Bryant Bulldogs in three sets (25-15, 25-16, 25-16) to begin the day's competition.  The Pioneers and Boilermakers concluded the tournament Saturday night, as each team had two or more players representing them on the Denver Invitational All-Tournament Team. The Pioneers' Kinglsey and junior Lyndi Johnson (Flower Mound, Texas) earned honors, along with Purdue's Tiffany Fisher (Tournament MVP), Ariel Turner and Blair Bashen.

Air Force's Ayesha Hein also earned All-Tournament honors along with teammate Maiya Perich who got the nod as the tourney's Best Libero.

Visit the Denver Invitational Tournament page for all of this weekend's scores and recaps. Also visit DenverPioneers.com for the most comprehensive coverage of the DU volleyball team as well as all of DU's athletics programs.

- PIONEERS -