DU Volleyball Splits on Final Day of Pioneer Classic

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

DENVER – The University of Denver volleyball team split a pair of games on Saturday during the final day of the 2013 Pioneer Classic at Hamilton Gymnasium.

The Pioneers opened play with a 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-10, 25-11) triumph over Texas A&M Corpus Christi before dropping a 3-2 (25-22, 15-25, 25-13, 15-25, 13-15) decision against UC Irvine in the nightcap.

The Saturday split moved Denver’s record on the year to 2-1 overall, snapping a two-match winning streak and securing a second-place finish in the Pioneer Classic.  UC Irvine captured the tournament crown by virtue of its 3-0 mark over the weekend.

Denver placed a pair of student-athletes on the 2013 Pioneer Classic All-Tournament Team as Colleen King (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) and Bailey Karst (Aurora, Colo.) were named to the seven-member squad.  They Pioneer duo was joined by Air Force’s Akokwe Clement, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Logen Bourque and a trio of players from UC Irvine in Allison Lee, Marisa Bubica and Aly Squires, who was recognized as the most valuable player.

“It was a tough match, it was a little bit of a rollercoaster,” Denver head coach Jesse Mahoney said.  “We blew them out, they blew us out and then the final set was a competitive set, we just didn’t make the plays down the stretch.  That being said, we had a lot of growth this weekend.  We had two good matches and played a really competitive third match.  I am really proud of my team coming out of the weekend.”

In the win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi in the opener, the Pioneers pieced together back-to-back wins in the third and fourth sets after splitting the opening two games to secure the win.  Moni Corrujedo (El Paso, Texas) and King paced the attack for Denver as each posted a team-best 15 kills.

Saturday’s championship match, which pitted the Pioneers against Big West foe UC Irvine, was a back-and forth affair from the opening serve as each team traded sets before the Anteaters rallied from a 7-4 deficit in the decisive fifth set by registering 11 of the final 17 points to seal the tournament title.

Squires led UC Irvine in the victory with a match-high 19 kills, while adding 14 digs.  Denver was paced in the loss by King, who tallied 14 kills and nine blocks.  Corrujedo continued her all-around play as well by turning in her second double-double effort in the last three matches with 10 kills and 16 digs.

The Pioneers will return to action on Friday, Sept. 6 when they travel to take part in the University of Illinois-Chicago Invitational next weekend.  Denver will play a total of three games over two days, as it is scheduled to battle Chicago State on Friday before taking on Marshall and host-school Illinois-Chicago on Saturday.

 

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