DENVER- Following an 8-4 start to their 2019 campaign the University of Denver volleyball team will hit the road to open Summit League play with two matches coming against Purdue Fort Wayne (Friday) and Oral Roberts (Sunday).

Denver Recap:
The Crimson and Gold look to build on their perfect 15-0 Summit League record in 2018. Entering the weekend 8-4 following a 2-1 weekend at the Thin Air Challenge, after their only loss came in the opening match to Air Force (3-1). Freshman middle blocker, Brianna Green had a career weekend, ranking fourth in the country in blocks per set with 1.70. Green had a season-high ten blocks against Montana, leading the Pios to 15 total through the three-set match. Junior Lydia Bartalo continues to lead the offense averaging 2.85 kills per set for a total of 123 on the season. Setter Ellie Anderson has a team-high 204 assists on the year while Macy Carrabine continues to contribute defensively, totaling 142 digs so far. As a team, the Pios average 11.9 kills per set while adding an average of 2.1 blocks per set.

DENVER vs. PURDUE FORT WAYNE
  Fri., Sep.26, 2019  •  5:00 PM MT
    Location: Fort Wayne, Ind.
    Overall: 11-2| Last Meeting: Nov. 17., 2018
Scouting the Mastodons: Purdue Fort Wayne enters their second Summit League matchup of the year with a 7-8 overall record on the season. The Mastodons are 1-0 in Summit League play following their sweep of Western Illinois on Tuesday. As a team, PFW averages 2.18 blocks with an attack percentage of .197. Their offense is led by Katie Crowe who averages 2.84 kills per set. Defensively, Rachael Crucis leads the team averaging 4.55 digs per set.
Last Meeting: Denver will enter the match holding an 11-2 record against the Mastodons through 13 meetings. In 2019, the Pios took down Purdue Fort Wayne in all three meetings, sweeping them in all three. The last matchup coming on November 17^th in the semifinal of the Summit League tournament. DU outhit the Mastodons .282 to .119 in the matchup to take a 3-0 victory.
 
DENVER vs. ORAL ROBERTS
  Sun., Sep.29, 2019  •  1:00 PM MT
    Location: Tulsa, Okla.
    Overall: 10-2| Last Meeting: Nov. 2., 2018
Scouting Oral Roberts: The Golden Eagles will enter their matchup against DU with a 4-10 overall record. They will be coming off their opening Summit League matchup against South Dakota on Friday. Entering the weekend, Oral Roberts is hitting .191 as a team while averaging 1.62 blocks per set. Offensively the Golden Eagles are led by senior CeCe Madison who averages 3.78 kills per set. Defensively, redshirt sophomore Sarah Thiessen has a team-high of 215 digs through 14 matches.
Last meeting: The last matchup between the two squads came in November of 2018. The two teams met twice during the 2018 season with Denver taking both of the matches (3-1, 3-0). In their last meeting the Pios completed a sweep of the Golden Eagles, out-hitting them .372- .-032. The Golden Eagles have secured both of their wins in series history on their home court.

DENVER TICKET OFFICE:
Tickets for volleyball games during the 2019 season are on sale now and can be purchased here.

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