DENVER -- The University of Denver volleyball team travels to South Dakota for a pair of matches against South Dakota and South Dakota State this week.
The Pioneers take on the Yotes on Thursday night in Vermillion, before traveling to Brookings on Saturday to take on the Jacks. Denver owns impressive records against both South Dakota opponents and is 15-15 all-time against USD and 24-5 all-time vs. SDSU.
THE LAST TIME OUT
• The Pioneers fell to St. Thomas in four sets in Hamilton Gymnasium on Tuesday.
•
Ava Reynolds led the Pioneers' offense with 16 digs and a .462 hitting percentage, including a perfect six kills on six attacks in the first set.
HITTING TWO HUNDRED
•Senior outside hitter
Ava Reynolds hit 200 single-season kills for the second time in her career.
• In her freshman campaign,
Madison Winkler has made 232 digs, averaging 3.74 digs per set.
BALANCED ATTACK
•Denver has four players averaging 2.50 kills/set or more:
Ava Reynolds,
Genevieve Lewis,
Jamia Johnson and
Alicia Thibodeau.
•Reynolds, Lewis and Johnson are all on pace to exceed their kill totals from the 2024 season.
• Despite missing three matches due to injury, Thibodeau ranks fourth on the team with 113 kills.
• Reynolds is the first Pioneer to reach the 200 kill milestone this season against St. Thomas.
Genevieve Lewis is only four kills from the two century milestone.
REACHING THE SUMMIT
• Denver ranks in the top half in the Summit League in eight different statistical categories: opponent digs, opponent service aces, blocks, opponent kills, assists, opponent assists, hitting percentage and opponent hitting percentage.
•The Pioneers lead the League in opponent digs (11.01 digs/set) and opponent service aces (1.16).
•Denver's 0.246 hitting percentage is the highest under third year head coach
Megan Pendergast and good for second in the conference.
STARTING STRONG
• The Pioneers' 8-3 nonconference record is the best start to a season under third year head coach
Megan Pendergast.
• Denver earned their first SEC win in 17 years and first P4 win under Pendergast on 9/13/25 with a 3-2 win over Arkansas.
• DU closed out its nonconference season with a perfect 3-0 weekend at the Into the Blue Invitational with wins over Air Force, Utah Tech and Northern Colorado.
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