DENVER – The University of Denver women's volleyball team defeated the Memphis Tigers (25-13, 25-17, 22-25, 18-25, 15-7) to open the Denver Invitational on Thursday night in Hamilton Gymnasium.
The Pioneers were led by
Ava Reynolds who recorded 16 kills and a .333 hitting percentage, alongside
Genevieve Lewis who added 12 kills and
Alicia Thibodeau who added 10 of her own. Defensively,
Alayna Finucan added 12 digs and
Elise Hart added 6 blocks.
GAME NOTES
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET 1
Denver got off to a quick 8-2 lead and didn't look back en route to winning set 1, 25-13. The Pioneers' balanced attack was the key to success in the first stanza with a trio of kills by Lewis,
Jamia Johnson and Thibodeau
SET 2
The Pioneers and the Tigers battled back and forth to start set two before DU took the lead at 8-7. Denver recorded a massive .520 hitting percentage on 15 kills to win the second set, 25-17.
SET 3
Memphis took an early, 11-7 lead to start the third set. The Pioneers were able to battle back to tie the match at 15 and traded blows back and forth with the Tigers, but dropped the third set, 25-22.
SET 4
Denver and Memphis traded points early before the Tigers rattled off five straight points to take a 7-2 lead. The Pioneers cut the deficit to 16-18 but dropped the set, 25-18.
SET 5
The Pioneers took an early 5-2 lead in the final stanza off of back-to-back-to-back blocks by Lewis,
Elise Hart and Thibodeau. Denver kept its offensive momentum rolling and earned at 15-7 final-set victory.
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