CANYON, Texas - The University of Colorado Colorado Springs volleyball team hit a solid .304 to open its season with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-20) victory over the Texas Woman's Pioneers Friday afternoon at WTAMU Fieldhouse.

The Mountain Lions will play again at 6 p.m. against West Texas A&M, the host of the 2011 Lady Buff Classic.

UCCS hit as high as .304 only twice during the 2010 season, the first on Sept. 3 against Valdosta State (.322) and the second against Chadron State (.411) on Nov. 5. The Mountain Lions reached that mark just four times in 2009.

But it took only one match to get there in 2011 as Nikki Kinzer (.462), Megan Koop (.444), Alex Wood (.409) and Sonja Johnson (.308) led the way.

Wood, previously known as Alex Nuttall, led the Mountain Lions with 12 kills. Koop and Laura Loosbrock each added nine, while Kinzer had seven and Johnson had four. Feeding them the ball was Cindy Bathelt, who suffered through an injury-plagued season in 2010. Bathelt, who transferred to UCCS from the University of Florida, had 39 assists. Bathelt also led UCCS with nine digs.

Kinzer assisted on five of the Mountain Lions' eight blocks, helping UCCS hold the Pioneers to a .081 hitting mark. Skylar Lewandowski drilled three of UCCS' four service aces.

Chloe Tate led Texas Woman's with 11 kills.