DENVER – The University of Denver volleyball team bounced back from Thursday with a 3-1 win over South Dakota on Saturday afternoon inside Hamilton Gymnasium.
 
LEADERS:
Jamia Johnson led the Pioneers with 15 kills on 36 swings, and added a pair of blocks in the victory.
Ava Reynolds added 12 kills to round out the Pioneers that finished in double figures.
Genevieve Lewis added eight kills and swung at a .300 clip in the Pioneers third win in their first four matches in the league.
Emma Mirabelli also had eight kills.
Kate Perryman led Denver with four blocks.
Izzy Rawlings distributed 24 assists to lead Denver's 6-2 on Saturday.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
SET 1:
After Denver scored the opening point, South Dakota reeled off three in a row to race out to an early lead. Alicia Thibodeau served a 5-0 run for the Pioneers that included a couple of blocks and a dipping serve that led to an overpass to put the Pioneers up 7-4 still early on in the set.
 
South Dakota answered back to a 6-1 run to retake the lead at 12-10 before Jamia Johnson had two kills in a three-point stretch to even things back up at 14 apiece.
 
After the teams traded side outs, a long rally ended with Johnson's fourth kill of the opening set to put Denver up 19-17 and force a South Dakota timeout. USD looked to even the score at 22 all, but Johnson and Kate Perryman combined for a block to push the Pios lead to two late in the set.
 
Genevieve Lewis threw down her first kill of the afternoon to close out the first set at 25-22 DU. Denver hit .258 in the first set. Johnson had four kills and Ava Reynolds had three in the opening set.
 
SET 2:
South Dakota raced out to a 4-0 and 7-1 lead to quickly take the momentum in the second stanza and force an early Denver timeout. Perryman's third block of the afternoon began to turn to the momentum and saw Denver use a 4-1 run to cut into the deficit at 10-6.
 
An Izzy Rawlings ace got the South Dakota lead down to three at 14-11 and forced a South Dakota timeout. USD was able to reestablish their advantage after the timeout, pushing the lead back to six at 19-13. South Dakota used eight blocks in the second set to close it out by a count of 25-18.
 
SET 3:
After Denver took the opening point of the third, the Coyotes reeled off four-straight points to take a three-point lead. Denver slowly crawled its away back and took the lead back at 10-9 after Reynolds' seventh kill of the afternoon.
 
Denver used a 6-0 run that included three kills from Johnson to get the first five-point lead of the set at 17-12. After a South Dakota timeout, the Coyotes won four of the next five points to force a Denver timeout at 18-16 in the third frame. USD got another on the other side before back-to-back Pio points, including a combo block from Elise Hart and Emma Mirabelli forced South Dakota's final timeout of the set at 20-17.  
 
Denver added two more in its run, including a back-row attack from Reynolds to push the lead back to five at 22-17, a lead the Pios held on to, to take the third at 25-19.
 
SET 4:
Johnson's left arm continued to give the Pioneers positive results early in set four as a pair of successful attacks got her into double figures and gave Denver an early 5-3 lead. In a continual tight fourth set, a slick serve from Izzy Rawlings that led to a Johnson overpass kill and a tight-set from Rawlings got Denver the lead at 15-13. South Dakota responded with a 3-0 run to force a Denver timeout at 16-15 Coyotes. With the fourth set tied at 17-all, South Dakota went on another 3-0 run to take the biggest lead of the set at 20-17. Denver pulled itself back to within one at 22-21 to force a South Dakota timeout.
 
A gutted out kill from Mirabelli and a clever finish from Johnson flipped the advantage around, forcing a South Dakota timeout on match point for the Pioneers at 24-23. On the following play, Johnson tripped and fell, falling down from a block, but got back up when the ensuing set was to her and she put it away for match point.
 
Up Next:
Denver will make its North Dakota road swing next week, beginning with a trip to UND on Thursday at 6 p.m. MT. The match will be streamed on the Summit League Network.
Tickets:
Tickets are on sale now for the 2025 Denver volleyball season. Purchase tickets for the rest of the 2025 campaign here.
 
Summit League Network:
Catch the remainder of Denver's 2025 season on the Summit League Network. Subscribe to the league streaming service today.
 
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