Although the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs volleyball team lost its fourth straight match Tuesday night, the Mountain Lions accomplished something in the loss. They brought excitement back to the Lions' Den.

On a night where there was a tremendous atmosphere in the gym, CU-Colorado Springs lost a four-game marathon against I-25 rival Colorado State-Pueblo 3-1 (30-22, 26-30, 33-31, 31-29).

The Mountain Lions' student section, along with a strong contingent of Thunderwolves fans, made for one of the loudest volleyball crowds in recent memory.

"It was a very exciting match," said CU-Colorado Springs coach Jessica Wood. "It seemed very fun for the crowd. They were into every point."

Colorado State-Pueblo (2-9, 2-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) played like a team with something to prove. The Mountain Lions had won the previous two meetings with Colorado State-Pueblo as they swept the 2003 season series.

A quick glance at the statistics made it look like CU-Colorado Springs (5-5, 0-3) played well enough to win Tuesday night too, but that wasn't the case. Lindsey Hillegass had a steady night with 55 assists. She provided hitters with good opportunities to score all night, resulting in the respectable team hit percentage of .194.

All of the Mountain Lions big hitters had good games. Freshman Andrea Weedman belted a career-high 23 kills and had four blocks. Jill Wrenn and Caroline Ottino both hit over .285 as they combined for 31 kills.

"There were a lot of long rallies that could have gone either way," said Wood.

Unfortunately for the Mountain Lions, many of the rallies went the Thunderwolves' way.

After Colorado State-Pueblo took Game 1, the Mountain Lions pulled away late in Game 2 to head to the locker rooms tied at 1-1. CU-Colorado Springs played with great effort but couldn't climb over the hump down the stretch in Games 3 and 4.

The Mountain Lions battled from behind in third game to eventually take a 28-27 lead on a Wrenn kill. Colorado State-Pueblo came back to score three of the next four points to lead 30-29, then Jamie Fuglesten put the game away with a kill down the left side.

CU-Colorado Springs fell down big in Game 4. The Mountain Lions trailed by eight as Colorado State-Pueblo appeared to be cruising to a match-ending victory. The Mountain Lions mounted a late surge but the hole proved too deep to get out of. CU-Colorado Springs cut the lead to 29-24 then reeled off five straight with their backs against the wall to tie it at 29. The Thunderwolves scored the next to points to win the match.

Weedman had 16 digs to go along with her solid night hitting the ball. Wood was more than happy with the way Weedman has adjusted to playing at the collegiate level.

"(Weedman) is a very strong player and we saw that tonight," said Wood. "She is really holding her own out there."