DU Volleyball Sweeps Way to UIC Invitational Crown

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

CHICAGO – The University of Denver volleyball team posted back-to-back 3-0 sweeps over Marshall (25-20, 25-12, 25-10) and Illinois-Chicago (25-20, 25-23, 25-21) en route to being crowned as the champions of the University of Illinois-Chicago Invitational on Saturday.

The Pioneers (5-1) continued their weekend of dominance as they posted their second and third-straight three-set victories while continuing to flourish on the offensive attack, registering a hitting percentage of .347 or better in each of their three tournament matches.

"It was a great weekend for our program, DU head coach Jesse Mahoney said.  "We improved in a lot of areas.  We had great performances throughtout each match.  Obviously Colleen King and our attacking core were very efficient and Bailey Karst playing through the flu at a high level was impressive."

After opening the day with a convincing win over Marshall, the Pioneers sealed the weekend sweep with a straight-set victory over host institution Illinois-Chicago – which saw four different Denver players hit over .350 for the match.

Freshman Moni Corrujedo (El Paso, Texas) led all Denver attackers in the win over the Flames with 12 kills.  She also added seven digs and five blocks, while hitting .357 (12-2-28) overall.

Nola Basey (Lyons, Colo.) added 11 kills and recorded a .455 (11-1-22) hitting percentage, while tournament most valuable player, Colleen King (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) tabbed 10 winners.

Denver setter Bailey Karst (Aurora, Colo.), who joined King on the UIC Invitational All-Tournament Team, continued her stellar play in the weekend’s final match as she finished with 39 assists while setting up a Pioneers’ attack that committed just a total of 10 errors on 101 attempts.

In the win over Marshall, the Pioneers displayed an efficient and diversified offensive display that was directed throughout by Karst, as she finished with 40 assists while setting up a total of four teammates who recorded a hitting percentage of .400 or over for the match, three of which tallied a better than .500 clip.

Included in that group was King, who tabbed a team-best 15 kills, while hitting .591 (15-2-22) overall.  Basey and Brea Muhle (Columbus, Neb.) each posted an errorless night on the attack as Basey posted a team-high .692 percentage for the match on the strength of nine kills (9-0-13), while Brue nearly matched her with eight winners and a .615 clip (8-0-13).

Corrujedo rounded out the Pioneers’ offensive leaders in the three-set victory over the Thundering Herd as she totaled seven kills while hitting .400 (7-1-15) overall.  Currujego also came up with 10 digs, just shy of Kate Acker’s (Waukesha, Wis.) match-best total of 14.

For the match, Denver hit .424 (46-7-92) as a team – its second consecutive performance of .400 or better.

“Marshall is a good team with a lot of weapons offensively and we did a very good job of slowing them down at the net and transitioning a number of easy points,” Mahoney said.  “Kudos to Bailey Karst for distributing the ball efficiently, anytime four attackers are over .400 the setter has done a masterful job.”

Marshall (1-6) was paced by Ally Keikover’s 11 kills and Dorothy Rahal’s 13 digs in the setback.

The Pioneers will return to action on Tuesday, Sept. 10 when they host in-state foe Colorado State in a match that is slated for a start of 7 p.m. (MT) at Hamilton Gymnasium.

UIC Invitational All-Tournament Team

Colleen King - Denver (TOURNAMENT MVP)

Bailey Karst - Denver

MaryKate Imrie - UIC

Sacla Byous-McConnell - Marshall

Paula Sioto - Chicago State

 

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