Box Score DENVER, COLO- The University of Denver volleyball team extended their win streak to three games with a sweep of Western Illinois (25-14, 25-14, 28-26) on Sunday.
The win lifts the Pioneers to 13-6 on the season and 5-2 in Summit League play. The Leathernecks fall to 5-16 overall and 2-6 in conference action.
Coach
Tom Hogan gave the four Pio setters credit for the impressive numbers put up by the offense through three sets, "We had great communication between our setters and our hitters. All four of our setters did a fantastic job running the show today." Denver out-hit Western Illinois with an attack percentage of .408, totaling 50 kills. WIU had an attack rate of .160 through the three-set match, the Pioneer defense holding them to just 31 kills on the afternoon.
The leathernecks found themselves battling early with the Pioneer offense when they were able to jump out to a 7-4 lead early on. WIU answered, battling back to deadlock things at ten and take the lead at 11-10. A trio of kills from
Lydia Bartalo,
Ari Winters and
Katie Mahoney helped the Pioneers climb out of the tie to put them on top 17-14.
Amanda Green ended the set with eight-straight points from the service line, sending the Pios on a 9-0 scoring run to take the set 25-14.
The Crimson and Gold used a 3-0 midway through the second frame to give themselves an eight-point lead at 15-7. A. Green and
Kalea Fobert kept the momentum on the Pioneers side combining for four consecutive kills to put the Pios up 22-11. A WIU service error locked in a second set win for the Pios at 25-14.
Looking to avoid the sweep, the Leathernecks came out strong in set three, taking a two-point lead at 11-9. The Pioneers knotted the score twice before they found themselves trailing at 15-13 midway through. A 3-0 run from DU put them up 18-17 following a service ace from
Andrea Eddy. Tied at 22, the squads continued to go back and forth until the score was deadlocked at 26 before Mahoney slammed her eighth kill of the game to bring the Pios to match point. A block from
Tina Boe and Bartalo ended things for Denver, closing the match with a 28-26 third set victory.
Bartalo led the offense with a .611 attack percentage and a team-high 12 kills while
Michelle Feliciano led the Pioneers with 12 assists. Mahoney saw a season high and team high of four blocks while
Macy Carrabine led the way recording 12 digs.
The Pioneers return to action on Tuesday in Grand Forks, North Dakota where they'll take on North Dakota at 1 PM MT.
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