VOLL v Western Illinois (30 OCT 15) - Highlights

Box Score|Season Stats

DENVER - The Denver Pioneers bounced back to sweep Western Illinois (29-27, 25-12, 25-16) Friday in Hamilton Gymnasium. Denver has nine wins in The Summit League, including seven 3-0 victories, and is 21-6 on the season.

"I thought it was a really good match," head coach Jesse Mahoney said. "I thought Western Illinois played very well in the first set, and I actually didn't think we played that poorly, it just took us a little while to get in our groove. I'm proud of our team to come up and get that set and then maintain a really high standard of play throughout sets two and three. It was great to have Piyusha back in the lineup and playing, I thought that gave us a spark and allowed us to use our full offense and hopefully we can get better in that lineup and win some more games."

Piyusha Boteju (Euless, Texas) returned for the Pioneers for her first match since October 9 at Western Illinois. Boteju recorded 18 assists in the match, while the other setter Monique Domme (Colorado Springs, Colo.) led the Pioneers with 19 assists. Cassie Baird (Indianapolis, Ind.) led Denver with 12 kills and a .478 hitting percentage, and Kayla Principato (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) added in 10 kills without an error.

Senior Sarah Schmid (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) led Denver defensively with one solo block and four block assists, while libero Cassidy Rooke (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) tallied 24 digs, including nine in the final set.

The Fighting Leathernecks challenged the Pioneers in the first set. The teams fought through 14 ties with four lead changes. Denver and Western Illinois tallied 18 and 19 kills, respectively, and each team notched 23 digs in the lengthy set. Principato and Becca Latham (Austin, Texas) each recorded four kills in the first set, and Baird and Schmid each pitched in three kills.

The Pioneers dominated in the second and third sets, leading from start to finish in each set. Denver's offense excelled, hitting .389 in the second set and .552 in the third set, the second best hitting percentage in a single set this season. The DU defense also stepped up in the final sets, forcing six attacking errors from the Leathernecks in each of the two final sets.

Principato and Nola Basey (Lyons, Colo.) led Denver with three kills apiece in the second set, with Basey's three kills coming on four attempts. Four other Pioneers had two kills in the set, including two kills on two attempts from Moni Corrujedo (El Paso, Texas).

Baird notched seven kills on 10 attempts in the final set and added in a service ace to her point total. Rooke also served an ace in the third and second sets. The Pioneers held off a late four-point run from Western Illinois to complete the sweep.

Denver will travel to South Dakota for a weekday match-up Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 6 p.m. MT. The Pioneers will host IUPUI and IPFW next weekend for the final regular season games in Hamilton Gymnasium.

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