COLORADO SPRINGS - Alex Wood had nine kills and a team-high 18 digs as the University of Colorado Colorado Springs defeated the Ursuline College Arrows 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-19) Tuesday evening at the Gallogly Events Center.

The nonconference matchup provided the fourth win in a row for the Mountain Lions, who improved to 13-9 on the season. UCCS coach Keith Barnett was glad to get a respite from the rigors of UCCS' Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schedule.

"It kind of relieves the pressure," said Barnett. "It gets us a lot of playing time. it gets us a chance to look at everyone and assess everyone's progress or non progress, whichever it may be, and just keep everybody sharp."

Ursuline (7-13) was playing its second match of the day, having been beaten by Colorado College earlier Tuesday. Ursuline in an NAIA school from Ohio that is in its second year of transitioning to NCAA Division II.

Nikki Kinzer led UCCS with 11 kills, while Megan Koop had seven and Laura Loosbrock had six. Skylar Lewandowski added 15 digs and Lindsy Heisler had 11.

UCCS got a preview of the future as Lindsey Stich, who backs up senior setter Cindy Bathelt, played all of sets two and three. Stich, who saw extensive action as a sophomore last year when Bathelt was injured, responded with 26 assists.

"It was really, really fun," said Stich. "Cindy's really good; the team works really well with her. I think that we adjusted well. The passes were really good and we put the ball away."

Stich's play both last season and on Tuesday gives hope that UCCS will experience minimal growing pains after Bathelt graduates.

"I think the transition will be easier because of last year and because of shots like I got tonight," said Stich.

The Mountain Lions controlled the first two sets from the start. The Mountain Lions limited Ursuline to a single serve on 13 of 14 occasions for a side-out percentage of 92.9 in the first set. A dominating .500 hitting mark in the second set led to a win by an identical 25-13 score.

UCCS coach Keith Barnett sifted his reserves into the match throughout, but the second unit saw almost all of the action in the third set. Although sloppy, the Mountain Lions took the final set 25-19.

"(We were) pretty good, a few too many errors in the third set," said Barnett, whose team needs to excel in its final six matches if it is to qualify for the RMAC playoffs. "I'm happy it's over in three. Now it's on the Friday and Saturday