DENVER – After earning its fifth Summit League title in program history on Sunday, the University of Denver volleyball team preps for its final regular season matchup before the NCAA tournament on Saturday against No. 11 Colorado State in Magness Arena at 2 p.m. MT.  

SUMMIT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS:

• The Pioneers enter Saturday with a 23-7 overall record
• After earning a first-round bye in the Summit League tournament, Denver defeated No. 3 seed Purdue Fort Wayne 3-1 and No. 4 seed Omaha 3-1 to claim the championship and an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament
• Lydia Bartalo was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Bartalo, Tina Boe and Amanda Green were named to the All-Tournament team

SUMMIT LEAGUE HONORS:

• Bartalo was named the first Summit League Player of the Year in program history while also earning a spot on the All-Summit League team 
• Boe earned her first All-Summit League honor, while Ellie Anderson was named Honorable Mention All-Summit League for the second consecutive season
• Kalea Fobert and Brianna Green each earned a spot on the Summit League All-Freshmen team

DENVER LEADERS:

• Bartalo leads the Denver offense with 358 kills through 30 matches to compliment a team-best 3.28 kills per set
• B. Green leads the Pioneers in blocks with 125. The freshman averages a team-high 1.28 blocks per set
• Macy Carrabine leads the DU defense with 398 digs, averaging 3.79 per set
• Anderson enters Saturday with a team-high 569 assists, setting up an average of 5.32 per set. Anderson also has a team-best ten double-doubles on the year

DOMINANT AT HOME:

• The Pioneers are dominant at home, sitting at 14-1 on the season in front of their home crowd. Denver's lone defeat came to South Dakota
• The Pioneers are 59-4 at home with Tom Hogan at the helm
• Denver enters the matchup riding a six-game win streak, securing 18 of their last 20 sets played

SCOUTING NO.11 COLORADO STATE:

• The Rams enter Saturday on a 27-game win streak, ranking third in the nation in win/loss percentage sitting at 28-1 overall for a .966 win percentage
• As a team, CSU averages 13.6 kills per set while holding their opponents to just 9.5 per set
• Defensively, they've notched 297.5 blocks and 1327 total digs during their 2019 campaign

 
COLORADO STATE LEADERS:

• Mountain West Player of the Year, Katie Oleksak leads the offense with 1040 assists on the season, notching a team-best 10.83 per set. Breana Runnels averages a team-high 3.74 kills per set
• Defensively, Alexa Roumeliotis leads the Rams in digs, averaging 4.0 per set, while teammate Kirstie Hillyer ranks first on the team in blocks, totaling 134 this year

HISTORY:

• Denver has taken only two matches from the Rams in program history with CSU leading the series 15-2
• The Pioneers last victory came in 2011 when they defeated the No. 19 Rams 3-1 in Hamilton Gymnasium
• It's been five seasons since the two teams met back in 2014 when the Pioneers dropped the match 3-0 in Fort Collins

SHOP PIONEERS:
Get dressed for Game Day! Get your Pioneers gear at ShopPioneers.com, the official online store of University of Denver Athletics.
 
DONATE: 
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.   
 
- Our Journey, Our Time –
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