LAKEWOOD, Colo. - Sonja Johnson had 10 kills and three other Mountain Lions had nine each as the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs scored a 3-1 road victory over the Colorado Christian Cougars Thursday evening at the CCU Event Center.

Nikki Kinzer, Jenica Shippy and Alex Nuttall each had nine kills for UCCS, which improved to 10-6 overall and 4-3 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.

UCCS had 10 service aces, its second-best total of the season, and hit .258, the third-best mark. That offense was coordinated by setter Cindy Bathelt, who finished with 35 assists.

Kendall Utz led the Mountain Lion defense with 14 digs and Nicole Pederson contributed a match-best six blocks (one solo and five assisted).

Colorado Christian (10-7, 4-3 RMAC) was led by Andi Weber's 12 kills.

An Utz ace gave the Mountain Lions a 3-2 lead that would remain throughout the first set. UCCS finished the set with a 9-3 run to provide the final margin.

Back-to-back aces by Cindy Bathelt led UCCS to a four-point run to tie it at eight early in the second set. Shortly afterward, a 10-1 run featuring a pair of Kinzer kills gave the Mountain Lions a commanding lead. Sonja Johnson had three consecutive kills to help close out the 25-17 set win.

Four straight points to open the third set had UCCS looking to sweep, but the Cougars answered with a 13-2 run behind three kills by Erica Brown. The Mountain Lions cut the gap to 14-11, but CCU manufactured a 6-1 run and cruised to a 25-15 set win.

That momentum carried over into the fourth set as the Cougars opened with a 7-2 lead. The gap was still four at 19-15, but UCCS ran off six of the next seven points to go ahead for the first time in the set at 21-20. Tied at 22, CCU had a pair of hitting errors and a service error to hand the Mountain Lions a 25-23 set win and complete the match at 3-1.