VOLL v South Dakota (4 OCT 15) - Highlights

Box Score | Season Stats

DENVER - The University of Denver defeated South Dakota in four sets (25-13, 25-13, 19-25, 25-20) Sunday in its third straight home match. The Pioneers are 4-1 in the Summit League and 16-4 overall.

The match featured long rallies between the teams as Denver recorded 72 digs, the second most by DU in a match this season and the most in four sets, and South Dakota had 62. Libero Cassidy Rooke (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) led the Pioneers with 18 digs, while Cassie Baird (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Moni Corrujedo (El Paso, Texas) also tallied double-digit digs with 16 and 11, respectively.

DU was strong to begin the match, winning the first set 25-13 after taking a permanent lead at 2-1. Denver hit .314 in the first set, while South Dakota had 10 attacking errors and a .023 hitting percentage. Becca Latham (Austin, Texas) led the Pioneers with four kills in the first set, while Nola Basey (Lyons, Colo.) had two kills on two attempts.

Denver continued to dominate in the second set, outhitting South Dakota .450 to .057. An early seven-point run by the Pioneers forced a timeout by the Coyotes at 8-2. Kayla Principato (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) led DU with five kills, while Ruth Okoye (Aurora, Colo.) recorded four kills on five attempts, including three without an assist. Monique Domme (Colorado Springs, Colo.) dished out seven assists in the set, and Baird had seven digs and a solo block.

South Dakota powered back in the third set as the Pioneers fell 25-19 to the Coyotes after 11 ties and four lead changes. Denver was impeded by nine attacking errors and had only nine kills in the set. The Coyotes tallied eight blocks, including four by Kelly Law, to help hold off DU.

In the fourth and final set of the match, Denver came out to a 3-0 lead and held onto it to win the set 25-20. Sarah Schmid (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) led the Pioneers with five kills on six attempts in the set, while Principato pitched in three kills to bring her to a total of 12 in the match. Okoye had two blocks in the final set and led the Pioneers with eight in the match.

The Pioneers hit the road to take on Western Illinois Friday, October 9 before returning home to host Nebraska-Omaha Sunday, October 11 at 2 p.m. MT.

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