Mountain Lions drop conference opener to Western State
The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs volleyball team opened its conference season with a heartbreaking five-game loss at Western State Friday. CU-Colorado Springs (5-3, 0-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) lost to the Mountaineers 3-2 (30-27 18-30, 30-28, 30-22, 17-15) before raucus crowd of 358 at Paul Wright Gym in Gunnison, Colo.
It was the second straight five-game loss for the Mountain Lions who also dropped the final game of the Western State tournament to Dowling College on Sept 4.
The Mountain Lions outhit Western State .128 to .064, but committed 20 costly service errors. Jill Wrenn led the Mountain Lions with 17 kills while Caroline Ottino added 12. Andrea Weedman also had 12 kills to go along with 20 digs.
After CU-Colorado Springs dropped Game 1, it jumped out to a big early lead over the Mountianeers in Game 2. The Mountain Lions scored 16 of the game's first 20 points before cruising to the double-digit victory.
In the decisive Game 5, the two teams traded points until freshman Tynet Calhoun gave Western the lead for good at 16-15 with a smash into the back row. Western State won the match on an attack error.
The victory gave Western State coach Shawn Back the school's all-time career wins record. Back now has a coaching record of 83-48, besting Darin Weber's mark of 82-74.
Lindsey Hillegass had a game-high 50 assists for CU-Colorado Springs and Kelly Olson had 26 digs.
UCCS Players/Staff Featured | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Kelly Olson | 2 | OH | Sr. |
| Kelly Olson | 2 | OH | Jr. |
 | Caroline Ottino | 13 | MD | So. |
 | Caroline Ottino | 8 | MB | Fr. |
 | Caroline Ottino | 14 | MB | |
 | Caroline Ottino | 13 | MB | |
 | Caroline Ottino | 13 | MB | |
 | Lindsey Hillegass | 10 | S | Jr. |
 | Lindsey Hillegass | 10 | S | So. |
 | Jill Wrenn | 5 | OH/RS | Fr. |
 | Jill Wrenn | 4 | RS | So. |
 | Jill Wrenn | 5 | RS | |
 | Jill Wrenn | 5 | RS | |
 | Andrea Weedman | 9 | OH | Fr. |
 | Andrea Weedman | 9 | OH/DS | Sr. |
 | Andrea Weedman | 9 | OH/DS | Sr. |
 | Andrea Weedman | 9 | OH/DS | Sr. |
| Additional News Stories | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| November 29, 2004 |  | Volleyball adds two key recruits | The transformation of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs volleyball program moved into phase 2 Monday when second-year coach Jessica Wood announced the addition of two key recruits during the early signing period. |
| November 13, 2004 |  | Season comes to an end in Kearney | Perhaps if the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs hadn’t played the Nebraska Kearney Lopers so tightly in their first meeting of the season, the Lopers may have looked past CU-Colorado Springs.After the Mountain Lions gave No. 1 Nebraska Kearney all they could handle on Oct. 16, the Lopers knew they would have to bring their A-game when the two teams met again in the opening round of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament Friday night in Kearney, Neb. And that’s exactly what the Lopers did.As they have done all season Nebraska-Kearney (34-0) proved it was the best team in the country dismantling the Mountain Lions 3-0 (30-13, 30-20, 30-21). Kearney outhit CU-Colorado Springs .361 to .077. |
| November 6, 2004 |  | Mountain Lions playoff bound | The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs defeated the Colorado College Tigers 3-0 (30-22, 30-28, 30-25) in a match that ended at 7:20 p.m. Saturday night. But the Mountain Lions’ bigger victory came two hours later in the mountain town of Gunnison. |
| November 5, 2004 |  | Mountain Lions Waiting | It's out of their hands now. |
| November 3, 2004 |  | Mountain Lions stay alive, beat CSU-P | The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs beat its biggest rival Tuesday evening in Pueblo. The Mountain Lions won a hard-fought match over the Colorado State-Pueblo Thunderwolves 3-1 (24-30, 30-24, 30-28, 32-30). |
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