Pioneers Sweep Jackrabbits to Close out Weekend

Box Score

DENVER – Led by 10-kill performances from senior Brea Muhle (Columbus, Neb.) and freshman Nola Basey (Lyons, Colo.), the University of Denver volleyball team swept (25-14, 25-16, 25-16) the visiting South Dakota State Jackrabbits on Sunday afternoon at Hamilton Gymnasium. The win brings the Pioneers to 7-4 in The Summit League, 13-11 overall, while the Jackrabbits fall to 1-9 in league play, 3-20 overall.

“It’s good to get a win,” said head coach Jesse Mahoney. “This weekend was tough with our injury situation and having to make a lot of last-minute changes, so it was good to see us respond and play well in all phases. We served very tough, we passed well and we defended.”

The fifth-ranked hitter in the country, Muhle also finished with a .562 hitting percentage to go along with five blocks, while Basey finished with six digs, one block and an assist.

Sophomore setter Tori Moons (Visalia, Calif.) set her career-high once again as she finished with 41 assists. Moons’ previously set her career-high of 39 assists on Friday in the Pioneers’ 3-0 loss to North Dakota State.  

“I thought Tori did a great job in the 5-1 setter role,” Mahoney said. “Aside from Friday, it’s something she hasn’t done for us all year. We had four-five attackers hit for very high numbers and we spread the ball around really well.”

Also scoring for the Pioneers was freshman Moni Corrujedo (El Paso, Texas) and red-shirt junior Cassie Ronda (Chandler, Ariz.) with nine kills each. Ronda led all starters with a .643 hitting percentage, while Corrujedo chipped in six digs and two blocks.

Junior libero Kate Acker (Waukesha, Wis.) finished with another double-digit dig performance, registering 12 on the day.

Tiara Gibson led the Jackrabbits with seven kills.

After taking the first two sets 25-14 and 25-16, the Pioneers came out of the break ready to close out the match. However, the Jackrabbits jumped out to a 9-7 lead early in the set. The Pioneers used a kill from Muhle and a service ace from Basey to tie the set at 9-9 before a kill by the Jackrabbits put SDSU up 10-9.

Back-to-back kills by Ronda put the Pioneers back in front11-10 and after a point for SDSU, Denver took a 12-11 lead off a kill by sophomore Sarah Schmid (Highlands Ranch, Colo.). Denver did not relinquish the advantage for the rest of the set and even extended its lead to 15-13 off another kill by Schmid.

Sophomore Hannah Safari (Boulder, Colo.) provided the biggest spark for the Pioneers in the third set as she served eight-straight points for the Pioneers to give them a 23-13 lead, recording three service aces during that stretch.

“Hannah is a great player, all around,” Mahoney said. “When she’s on, she has the best serve in our gym. She can disrupt the other side and we have a lot of faith in her. She came out in that third set and broke it wide open by serving tough and with pin-point accuracy.”

Denver closes out the home portion of its season next Saturday as it hosts league co-leader South Dakota at Hamilton Gymnasium at 6 p.m. MT. The Pioneers will be celebrating all four of their seniors in a pre-match ceremony.

SUMMIT LEAGUE UPDATE

Denver sits at 13-11 on the season, 7-4 in league play. South Dakota and IUPUI lead the league with identical 9-2 league marks. The Pioneers follow the Coyotes and the Jaguars, sitting in third place, while Fort Wayne and Western Illinois round out the top-five.

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