Pioneer Movement| Denver Ticket Office

GAMEDAY STORYLINES
• The Pioneers are 6-1 overall against the Golden Eagles, with a 2-1 record on the road.
• Last season, Denver went 2-1 against ORU, winning both matches in straight sets and losing 3-2 in Tulsa.
• The last three matches in Tulsa have gone five sets, with the Pioneers winning two of them.
• Denver is 6-2 in three-set matches, 5-2 in four-set matches and 1-0 in five-set matches.
• Denver has used two different starting lineups through the first 16 matches this season. Kayla Principato, Emma Willis, Cassie Baird, Tina Boe, Piyusha Boteju and Cassidy Rooke have started all 16 matches. Becca Latham started three matches and Teal Schnurr has started 13.
• Latham started the first three matches of the season, with the Pioneers going 3-0 in those matches. Schnurr has started the last 13 matches, in which DU went 9-4.


SCOUTING ORAL ROBERTS
• The Golden Eagles are 7-10 overall and 4-1 in league play after losing 3-1 to South Dakota on Tuesday.
• Oral Roberts is 2-3 at home.
• They are 3-5 in three-set matches, 4-2 in four-sets and 0-3 in five-sets.
• Laura Milos leads the team, and the league, in kills with 322. The senior ranks second in the NCAA in kills, averaging 5.11 k/s (ranks third in the NCAA) and hitting .262. She also leads the team in service aces with 24. Milos has won Summit League Offensive Player of the Week three times this season.
• Lucija Bojanjac and Bria Bergman lead the team in assists with 344 (5.46 a/s) and 343 (5.44 a/s), respectively. Together, they have 687 of the team's 814 assists.
• Morgan Blomquist has a team-high 36 total blocks (three solo, 33 assisted), while four other players have 20 or more total blocks.
• Tori Roe leads ORU with 216 digs (3.43 d/s).

LOOKING BACK
• The Pioneers are coming off of a 3-1 victory at Omaha (22-25, 25-23, 25-23, 27-25).

THE COMEBACK KIDS
• There have been 10 instances so far this season in which the Pioneers came back in a set, and won in all but two of them.
• Facing set point at 24-22 in the second set against the College of Charleston, the Pioneers rallied to score the next four points to win the set 26-24, behind kills from Kayla Principato, Becca Latham and Teal Schnurr.
• In the third set against Charleston, DU was down 23-20 before they strung together five-straight points to close out the set 25-23. Tina Boe, Latham (2) and Schnurr led the charge with kills down the stretch.
• In the third set against UC Davis, the Pioneers were down 22-19, but went on a 7-2 run to close the set and win 26-24.
• Denver showed its resiliency in the second set against No. 5 Texas, going on a 10-3 run to go from down 18-11 to tying the set at 21. There were two more ties at 22 and 23 before Texas closed out the set with the final two points.
•Down 22-17 in the third set against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the Pioneers rallied behind back-to-back kills from Boe, three kills from Latham, two errors by the Islanders, and a service ace by Schnurr to take the set 25-23. DU closed the set on an 8-1 run to go up 2-1 in the match.
• In the fourth set against the Islanders, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi went on a 5-0 run to take a 17-16 lead, and would push the lead to 20-17. The lead would fluctuate between two and three points, reaching 23-21 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, before Denver went on a 2-0 run tie the set at 23. From there, it was an exchange of points, with ties at 24, 25 and 26 before a service error by the Islanders and a kill by Lydia Bartalo gave the Pioneers the set at 28-26 and the match at 3-1.
•In the fourth set against San Diego State, DU used a 6-0 run to tie the set at 19, and would fight off one match point by the Aztecs before ultimately falling 28-26.
• Down 24-20 in the first set against NDSU, DU fought off four set points and used a 5-0 run to take a 25-24 lead. After ties at 25 and 26, a Schnurr kill and Anderson service ace completed the comeback to take the set, 28-26.
• In the third set against Omaha, the Pioneers stormed back to take the set 25-23. Omaha scored the first four points of the set, and the lead would grow to 9-3. The Pioneers chipped away at the lead and cut it down to four at 13-9, before the lead would get back up to six at 17-11. The lead stretched to 19-12, but Denver answered with a 5-1 run to cut the lead to 20-17, and then cut it down to one at 22-21. The Pioneers then took a 23-22 lead and after a tie at 23, scored the last two points of the set to take the set, 25-23. After Denver was down seven points at 19-12, they closed on a 13-4 run.
• In the fourth set of the match against the Mavericks, Denver fell behind early as Omaha jumped out to a 7-4 lead and would grow the lead to 10-4. Out of a Denver timeout, the Pioneers went on a 4-0 run to make it 10-8 and had another 3-0 run to tie the set at 12. Omaha then went ahead 15-12, to which Denver answered with a 4-1 run to tie the set again at 16. After another tie at 18, the Pioneers went on a 6-0 run that took a tied set at 18 to 23-18 Denver. The Pioneers had match point at 24-21, but the Mavericks fought back to tie the set at 24, and would take a 25-24 lead on the following point. Facing set point themselves, Latham got her 17th kill of the match to tie the set at 25. A Boteju service ace and Willis and Principato block gave the Pioneers the needed two points to take the set 27-25 and the match.

KILLING IT
• DU has four players with over 100 kills, with Latham and Principato leading the team with 176 and 163, respectively, through 16 matches. Emma Willis has the third-most kills with 101, and Cassie Baird sits at 100.
• Denver had four players with 10-plus kills against USC Upstate with Latham (14), Principato (12), Bartalo (10) and Schnurr (10). Against UC Davis, DU had three players with 10 kills by Baird, Principato and Latham. Against Gonzaga, DU had three players with 12 kills by Principato, 11 by Latham and 10 by Baird. In the first league match against Fort Wayne, Principato and Willis had 14 kills and Latham had 12.
• Latham had a career-high 17 kills in the win against Omaha and Willis had a career-high 14 kills in the win against Fort Wayne.
• The Pioneers have 761 kills with a hitting percentage of .233.

WE'LL HAVE THE DOUBLE-DOUBLE PLEASE
• Piyusha Boteju has had six double-doubles this season. Boteju had 29 assists and 10 digs against USC Upstate, and then had 28 assists and 11 digs later in the day against the College of Charleston. Boteju added another double-double against Niagara with 19 assists and 20 digs (a career-high). Against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Boteju had 20 assists, 11 digs, and against Eastern Illinois she had 18 assists and 12 digs. In the last match, against Omaha, the senior had 11 assists and 13 digs.
• Cassie Baird had 10 kills and 10 digs against Charleston, 10 kills and 11 digs versus UC Davis, as well as a double-double against Gonzaga with 10 kills and 10 digs. She has six in her career.
• Lydia Bartalo had 10 kills and 12 digs in her second match as a Pioneer against USC Upstate.
• Ellie Anderson (22 assists, 10 digs) recorded her first double-double as a Pioneer against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

BLOCK IT UP
• Emma Willis and Tina Boe currently sit first and second in the Summit League in blocks per set, at 1.16 and 1.02 B/S, respectively.
•Willis is tied for second in total blocks in the Summit League, with 66 total blocks (four solo, 62 assisted)
• DU has 133.5 total blocks through 16 matches (2.34 blocks/ set), off of 17 solo blocks and 233 assisted.
• Willis had a season-high 10 assisted blocks in the win against Eastern Illinois, and Boe had 10 total blocks against San Diego State (two solo, eight assisted). They are the only two players to reach double figures in a match this season.

FEARLESS FRESHMEN
• In their first season as DU Pioneers, the freshmen have made an immediate impact.
• Anderson is second on the team in assists (193) and service aces (12) and fifth in digs (82). Bartalo is fourth on the team in digs with 86, Boe is second on the team in total blocks at 56 (five solo, 51 assisted) and in hitting percentage (.266), and Macy Carrabine is fifth on the team in assists (18).

LEAD THE WAY
• Along with Latham (kills) and Willis (total blocks), Boteju leads the team in assists (323), Cassidy Rooke leads the team in digs (199), and Latham in points scored (193.5). Cassie Baird has 18 service aces to lead the team.

REACHING NEW LEVELS
• Denver's 6-0 start was the best start in program history, surpassing the 5-0 start in 2014.
• Through Sept. 5, the Pioneers were only one of 29 undefeated teams.
• Boteju recorded her 500th career dig and Latham registered her 400th career kill in the match against Niagara.
• Baird registered her 500th career kill in the first set against Texas.
• Emma Willis recorded her 200th total block against UC Riverside.
• Principato recorded her 800th career kill in the second set of the match against UC Riverside.
• Boteju recorded her 1500th career assist in the fourth set against Fort Wayne.
• Rooke moved into fourth all-time in school history in digs and Latham recorded the 500th kill of her career against North Dakota State.
• In the next match against Omaha, Rooke moved into third-place behind 21 digs with a total of 1536.
• Principato recorded the 1000th point of her career against Omaha.
• Baird tallied her 500th career dig against Omaha.
• Denver played a No. 1 ranked team for the first time in school history when it faced Minnesota.

SUSTAINED SUCCESS
• Denver enters the season coming off of its third-straight Summit League regular season and tournament championships.
• DU has made the NCAA Tournament the last three years after winning the Summit League Tournament.

CONSISTENCY IS KEY
• The Pioneers won over 20 matches and 13 league matches each of the last three seasons.
• The Pioneers have earned the regular season title with a 13-3 Summit League record the past three seasons.
• In the last three years, the Pioneers have gone 8-0 at home and 5-3 on the road in league play.
• Denver is 52-14 overall in the Summit League.

SEASON TICKETS: Tickets for the 2017 Denver volleyball season are on sale now and can be PURCHASED HERE.

PIONEER MOVEMENT: Fans interested in making a donation to the volleyball program can do so by CLICKING HERE. Your contribution will make a direct impact on the success of YOUR Pioneers. Thank you in advance for your unwavering support of our student-athletes and their quest for excellence.

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