Box Score

DENVER - The Pioneers faced the University of Texas at El Paso Miners in their final match of the Denver Invitational Saturday evening in Hamilton Gymnasium. Coming off of two competitive wins against the Nevada Wolf Pack and the San Francisco Dons (in which they pushed to nine total sets), the Pioneers brought their best game in four sets (25-23, 27-25, 22-25, 25-22) to earn the championship.

Despite a shaky start in the first set, the Crimson and Gold pulled off a major come back from 17-23 for the win, fueling an eight point run to 25 with senior Kate Acker (Waukesha, Wis.) serving. The defensive specialist/libero led the squad in aces (two) and digs (24) during the final matchup.

Head coach Jesse Mahoney commented, "We went 3-0 and it's hard to nit pick that. We had a fantastic, competitive match Friday night against USF and we grinded it out today. These were two really good teams that made us fight for all of our points. We are tired, taking tomorrow off and Monday off as well, so hopefully we feel good and recharged when we get into Summit League play. We are excited to have a good record going in, but league play is league play and that's what matters."

On the offensive end, Denver saw a new stat leader in freshman Cassie Baird (Indianapolis, Ind.) who powered out 15 kills on the UTEP Miners at a .345 attack percentage. Baird was amply backed by her teammates, sophomore Ruth Okoye (Aurora, Colo.) and sophomore Moni Corrujedo with 12 kills each, as well as fellow freshman Nola Basey (Lyons, Colo.) who contributed 13. Other noteable players for this match on Denver's squad include senior Bailey Karst (Aurora, Colo.) with 59 total assists and junior Sarah Schmid (Highland Ranch, Colo.) with five blocks.

This win marks the University of Denver's best start (11-3) of the volleyball season since their 17-3 record in 2008.

The MVP award of the Denver Invitational went to Ruth Okoye who led the tournament with 53 kills. Karst was also named to the All-Tournament Team.

The Pioneers begin Summit League play on Friday at Western Illinois. First serve is set for 6 p.m. MT.

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