DENVER – The University of Denver volleyball team came from two sets to one down for the second-straight day to earn a five-set victory over Northern Colorado (15-25, 25-17, 23-25, 25-23, 15-7) on Saturday afternoon at Falcon Court at East Gym.
 
LEADERS:

• Genevieve Lewis led the Pioneers attack with 15 kills on 26 attempts (.308).
• Ava Reynolds finished in double figures in the attack as well with 13 kills on her 31 swings.
• Denver's two setters split the distributions on Saturday. Ilayda Eren had 25 assists and a pair of service aces. Izzy Rawlings added 24 assists and four service aces, including a pair of aces in the early stages of the final set.
• Libero Madison Winkler led Denver with 23 digs for the second-consecutive match to go with six assists on Saturday.

NOTES:

• Denver improved to 8-3 in the 2025 campaign, extending the program's best start since 2021.
• The Pioneers also improved to 5-1 in five-set matches this season.
• Lewis finished with double figure kills for the eighth time this season and the 13^th time in her four-year career.
• Reynolds reached double figures for the third-straight game this weekend, the eighth time this season and the 27^th time of her career.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
SET 1:
Northern Colorado opened the match on a 3-0 run thanks to a pair of blocks sandwiched around an ace. After Denver cut it to a one-point set, the Bears used a 4-0 scoring run to stretch their lead to 11-6 midway through the set. UNC ended the first set on a 10-4 run to capture the opening stanza. Kate Perryman led Denver in the opening set with three kills on five attempts.
 
SET 2:
The Bears got out of the gates quickly in the second set as well, opening on a 4-1 run aided by a pair of Denver errors. In this set however, Denver responded with a 5-1 run to take its first set lead of the day at 6-5. The early-set run was sparked by Denver's first block of the day, a stuff from Alicia Thibodeau and Perryman. Denver built on its lead, scoring four out of six points to push its lead to 14-10 and force a Northern Colorado timeout.
 
After the Bears cut the Pioneers lead in half, hammers from Genevieve Lewis and Thibodeau sandwiched around a UNC error forced the Bears' second timeout at 19-14. Denver continued to extend its lead in the set and evened up the match after a kill and ace from Thibodeau on the final two points of the frame to make it 25-17.
 
Denver, which hit just .063 with nine errors in the first set, cleaned up its attack in the second, finishing 16 kills against just three errors on 33 swings for a .394 hitting percentage in the second set.
 
SET 3:
The two teams traded points in the opening stages of the third set, before a 4-0 Denver spurt made it 11-8 Pios. The four-point run was ignited by a pair of Izzy Rawlings' aces. DU maintained that three-point lead heading to the media timeout at 15-12 after a full-stretch Madison Winkler dig kept the point alive for the Pioneers to win.
 
A 5-0 Northern Colorado run flipped the momentum in the set to give the Bears a 17-16 advantage before a quick attack by setter Ilayda Eren evened things up at 17. The teams traded points back and forth before a seventh kill from Thibodeau and a block from Emma Mirabelli and Perryman made it 23-22 Denver.

UNC was able to close the set on a 3-0 run and take the third frame 25-23 heading to the fourth.
 
SET 4:
A 5-1 run early in the set, keyed by three kills from Ava Reynolds, opened Denver's fourth-set advantage up to 8-4 to force a UNC timeout. Denver pushed its lead out to 11-6 after a successful challenge by Megan Pendergast turned a Genevieve Lewis error into her 10^th kill of the afternoon. Lewis had kills 11 and 12 to stretch Denver's lead to 15-8 before a 4-0 Bears' run forced a Pendergast timeout at 15-12.
 
Denver continued to edge in-front to 19-15 before a 3-0 UNC run trimmed the Pioneers lead back to one to setup another tight set finish. The Pioneers Jamia Johnson put an end to the run and the teams seesawed between a one and two-point Denver lead until Northern Colorado tied things up at 23-all in the fourth. Johnson came up with another big kill to send it to set point and then threw down her sixth kill of the day, and her third late in the set to wrap-up the fourth and send the match the distance.
 
SET 5:
Back-to-back aces from Rawlings in the first five points of the set gave Denver a 4-1 advantage, a lead the Pios pushed to 6-2 to force Northern Colorado's first timeout of the set. Johnson continued to provide the hot hand with her seventh kill to make it 7-2. Denver won five out of six points to push its lead to 13-5, getting two kills from Perryman and a kill from Lewis in the run. Lewis nailed down her 15^th kill of the afternoon to wrap-up the five-setter and send Denver into Summit League play next week on a three-game winning streak.
 
Up Next:
Denver will open Summit League play this week with a trip to Tulsa to take on Oral Roberts. First serve on Thursday on the Summit League Network is set for 6 p.m. MT.

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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