A school-record 330 fans went away disappointed as the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs volleyball team was defeated by the Adams State Grizzlies 3-2 (15-30, 30-25, 30-26, 23-30, 15-10) Friday night at the Lions' Den.
The overflow crowd in the 300-seat Lions' Den eclipsed the previous high of 322 that attended the Mountain Lions' match against Southern Colorado on Sept. 12, 2002.
The loss also ended UCCS' nine-match home winning streak.
UCCS (14-9, 10-4) fell into a tie with New Mexico Highlands and Mesa State for first place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's Western Division. New Mexico Highlands will play the Mountain Lions in the Lions' Den Saturday night.
"We will definitely think about what we're going to do this next game," said UCCS libero
Laura Meeter, who had a match-high 28 digs. "We'll all make goals for ourselves -- which we didn't do this game -- so that our play is better tomorrow."
Kelley Angel led UCCS with 19 kills, while
Andrea Weedman added 13 and
Diane Sheldon had 12 as the Mountain Lions totaled 63 kills versus 45 for the Grizzlies. Countering those numbers was sloppy execution that led UCCS to 40 hitting errors, 16 service errors, three blocking errors and two ball handling errors.
"It was all mental," said Meeter. "We made our mistakes and it cost us the game."
But while the Mountain Lions made an inordinate number of mistakes on offense, they were resilient defensively. Adams State hit just .016.
"Both teams were pretty scrappy," said Meeter. "We were covering the ball well when we hit the ball. Both teams were in their spots and the blocks were in their spots. That makes it easier for the defense to pick up the hits."
Emily Bussey and Tiffany Stockebrand led Adams State (10-11, 7-7 RMAC) with 13 kills each. Libero Jocelyn Garcia led the Grizzlies with 17 digs and had four of her teamâ€TMs 10 service aces.
After digging an early 10-5 hole, UCCS was dominant in Game 1. Led by six kills by
Diane Sheldon, the Mountain Lions outscored Adams State 25-5 the rest of the way.
That dominance was short-lived, though, as Adams State built another early lead in Game 2, leading 18-8 after a Stockebrand kill. UCCS battled back using a 17-9 run to close to 27-25 before dropping the final three points.
The Mountain Lions opened Game 3 with a 16-10 lead before Adams State reeled off six straight points thanks in part to a pair of service aces by Garcia. A 5-1 run with the score tied at 19 gave the Grizzlies a lead they were able to ride for a 2-1 lead in games.
A 14-4 run in Game 4 overturned an early Adams State advantage, putting UCCS up 18-14. Adams State was unable to get closer than three after that.
With the score tied at five in the deciding game, the Grizzlies blocking game came into play. Adams State put up four of its 13 blocks to outscore UCCS 10-5 the rest of the way and claim the match.
