VOLL v South Dakota State (2 OCT 15) - Highlights
VOLL v South Dakota State (2 OCT 15) - Post Game
VOLL v South Dakota State (2 OCT 15) - Full Game

Box Score| Season Stats

DENVER - The Denver Pioneers swept South Dakota State in straight sets (25-16, 25-23, 25-15) Friday in Hamilton Gymnasium in front of 427 fans. The Pioneers are 3-1 in the Summit League and 15-4 overall.

"We're always happy to get a win, especially in three sets," head coach Jesse Mahoney said. "It was a good opportunity tonight for us to get some of our younger players in the lineup, and I thought Emma Willis and Nikki Kennedy did a really nice job, especially offensively. We always look for ways to improve, even in matches where we're sweeping, and I think the third set was a good improvement, certainly in our mentality and our focus. Now we've got a tough opponent on Sunday."

Freshman Willis (La Jolla, Calif.) and redshirt-freshman Kennedy (Parker, Colo.) each recorded single-match career highs vs. South Dakota State. Willis tied her career high of five kills in the match, finishing with a .625 hitting percentage, as well as set a career high of three digs. Kennedy led the Pioneers with a career-high seven blocks and also had four kills on six attempts in the match, both career highs. Freshman Becca Latham (Austin, Texas) and sophomore Cassidy Rooke (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) also had career nights with four blocks and four aces, respectively.

Denver's offense and defense worked together to defeat the Jackrabbits. In the first set, the Pioneers hit .375 compared to a .000 hitting percentage by South Dakota State. The trend continued as Denver outhit South Dakota State in the final two sets .205 to .100 and .333 to .073.

Denver struggled against South Dakota State early in the match, with DU's three first-set attacking errors coming in the Jackrabbits' first eight points. The Pioneers battled back to a 25-16 win in the first set. Kayla Principato (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) led Denver with five kills and a .625 hitting percentage in the first set. Rooke added in two service aces in the set as well as five digs. Latham and Kennedy each recorded three blocks in the first set.

Denver spread out its offense in the second set. For the second straight set, Piyusha Boteju (Euless, Texas) tallied seven assists and Monique Domme (Colorado Springs, Colo.) tallied six. Four Pioneers recorded three kills, including Willis, who only had four attempts in the set. Also for the second straight set, Kennedy had three blocks, en route to her single-match career high of seven.

The Pioneers closed out the match with a dominant 25-15 victory. Principato led Denver with five kills, while Nola Basey (Lyons, Colo.) and Moni Corrujedo (El Paso, Texas) had their most productive set of the match with three kills each. Corrujedo also had one of the three Denver service aces in the set, and Basey pitched in four digs. DU grabbed the lead at 8-7 and did not surrender it for the rest of the set.

The Pioneers will host South Dakota (6-10, 0-3 Summit) Sunday at 1 p.m. MT in their third home Summit League match of the week.

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