DENVER, Colo. - The University of Denver volleyball team swept its second straight Western Athletic Conference opponent this week, top Louisiana Tech 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-16) in Hamilton Gymnasium on Saturday night. The victory moves the Pioneers to 8-5 on the year, 2-2 in WAC action. The Lady Techsters fall to 3-12, 0-3 in WAC play.

"It's nice to play at home," said head coach Jesse Mahoney. "We had a rough patch on the road last week, but we came back and we focused. We got some really good work in. We got some really good practice this week. I think everyone was energized by the home crowd. Now we need to build on this success, and carry it into next week."

 

Freshman Michele Swope (Orlando, Fla.) and redshirt-sophomore Cassie Ronda (Chandler, Ariz.) each tallied a game-high 12 kills, while junior Colleen King (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) had 11. Ronda also finished with a game-high .550 hitting percentage.

Sophomore Bailey Karst (Aurora, Colo.) and classmate Frances Carroll (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) led the match with 22 assists apiece. Swope and sophomore Kate Acker (Waukesha, Wis.) each recorded 11 digs and junior Brea Muhle (Columbus, Neb.) led all players with five blocks.

Clara Vido and Caitlin Germany topped the Lady Techsters with five kills each. Maria Coelho tallied 21 assists, while Ana Rodrigues had nine digs.

The Lady Techsters scored the first point of the opening set, but the Pioneers responded with five consecutive points to open a 5-1 lead. DU did not relinquish the advantage for the rest of the frame, as the Crimson and Gold took the first set 25-16.

The Pioneers never trailed in the second set. A 5-0 run stretched the DU lead from 11-9 to 16-9, and Denver proceeded to score six of the set's final seven points to take the frame 25-14.

Denver fell behind 3-2 in the third set, but a match-best 8-0 run gave the Pioneers a 10-3 advantage. From that point, DU held at least a four-point advantage throughout the set, as the Crimson and Gold sealed the win with a 25-16 third set score.

"I think we learned a lot about ourselves this week, and we worked on some system stuff," Mahoney said. "Monday will be a prep day for Air Force and we'll get a chance to learn about them. I think offensively we're doing a lot of good stuff. We just need to get a little bit better defensively."

The Pioneers will return to the road Tuesday at Air Force for a 7 p.m. match. Denver remains on the road for the next two weekends, before returning home on Thursday, Oct. 11 against Texas State.

Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 17 of DU's NCAA Division I sports.

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