COLORADO SPRINGS -- Four Mountain Lions had 12 or more kills as the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs defeated the Colorado State-Pueblo Thunderwolves 3-1 (25-30, 30-17, 30-18, 30-23) Thursday evening.

Stephanie Laband led UCCS (8-8, 6-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) with 13 kills, while Brooke Akers, Diane Sheldon and Heidi Fehringer each added 12. Fehringer also had seven blocks (two solo).

Cortney Weedman led the Mountain Lions with 26 assists and had four of the team's nine service aces. Jessica Stewart added 25 assists and Andrea Weedman had a match-high 17 digs.

Lindsey Wilson led CSU-Pueblo (6-11, 2-5 RMAC) with 11 kills. Seven of those came in Game 1 to help the Thunderwolves hand UCCS its first home game loss of the season. The Mountain Lions came into Thursday's game having swept each of their four previous opponents at the Lions' Den.

But while the games streak was snapped, the matches streak was not.

In Game 1, however, it looked like it might be. The game was tied at 17 when Taren Frazier's accurate serves lifted CSU-Pueblo to an 8-0 run from which UCCS could not recover. The Mountain Lions were outhit .312 to .047 as the Thunderwolves used short serves to keep the Mountain Lions offense out of system.

"The serving kind of caught us by surprise," said Fehringer. "We weren't really expecting (the short serves).

"We had to get over that hump."

They did thanks to a little help from coach Jessica Wood. After an animated motivational session -- what some might call a ‘derriere' chewing -- UCCS more than adjusted to what CSU-Pueblo was offering.

"She got after us," said Fehringer. "We had to pick it up."

UCCS outhit CSU-Pueblo in Game 2 .258 to -.206. The improved offense helped the Mountain Lions get better defensive position, as they put down four blocks (compared to just one in the first game) and limited CSU-Pueblo to only four kills. During an 8-2 UCCS run late in the game, Fehringer and Laband teamed to put down three blocks.

The defensive dominance continued into Game 3 as UCCS limited CSU-Pueblo to five kills and a -.033 hitting mark. Fehringer again came up big, notching five kills and three more blocks. UCCS, meanwhile, hit .350.

"I have a lot of adrenaline in me," said Fehringer. "Once I get one thing it just keeps going and going and going."

The she laughed and added:

"I've just got to go with it."

The Mountain Lions had a comfortable 21-13 in Game 3 when CSU-Pueblo, again behind Frazier's service game, scored four straight. The Thunderwolves were able to squeeze the lead down to three at 23-20, but three kills by Laband and a kill and a block by Fehringer helped UCCS close out the 30-23 game win and the match.

The win also gave UCCS a 4-2 lead in the Steel and Silver Series, which awards points to the winners of competitions between UCCS and CSU-Pueblo. The series was started in 2005 to acknowledge the natural rivalry that exists between the two schools.