Box Score | Season Stats

DENVER - The University of Denver volleyball team swept IPFW (25-22, 25-21, 25-17) in its first Summit League match of the season Friday in Fort Wayne, Ind. The Pioneers stand at 13-3 on the season and 1-0 in the Summit League.

"Wins on the road are always hard-fought, so we are glad to get one to start our conference slate," head coach Jesse Mahoney said. "We served extremely well and when you do that you get easy chances defensively, which we took advantage of. Offensively, our setters were able spread the ball to a lot of different attackers."

Kayla Principato (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) led DU with 13 kills and hit .500 in the match. The sophomore right-side hitter also pitched in six blocks, tying her single-game career high. Cassie Baird (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Moni Corrujedo (El Paso, Texas) each added seven kills in the match, with Baird earning five kills in the third set.

The Pioneers battled through 11 ties in the first set, ultimately claiming the lead at 18-17. DU hit well to begin the match, hitting .375 in set one. Principato led with four kills in the first set, while Sarah Schmid (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) had three kills on three attempts and pitched in three blocks.

Denver's defense stepped up in the second and third sets, holding the Mastodons to .077 and .083 hitting percentages, respectively. In each of the final two sets, five Pioneers tallied more than one dig in the set. Corrujedo notched six digs in the third set and led DU with nine digs in the match.

Principato racked up six kills without an error in the second set, and Ruth Okoye (Aurora, Colo.) tallied three kills on four attempts. Denver led IPFW from start to finish in the final set. Baird led the Pioneers with five kills.

Denver continues its trip to Indiana by taking on IUPUI in Indianapolis tomorrow at 5 p.m. MT. The Pioneers are 3-3 against IUPUI since joining the Summit League and have only one win in The Jungle.

"We've got a tough one tomorrow at IUPUI on a short turnaround," Mahoney said. "They didn't play tonight so they will be rested and ready for us. We will have to be at our best and I'm confident we will be 'up' for the match."

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