COLORADO SPRINGS -The University of Colorado Colorado Springs volleyball team extended its winning streak to seven matches with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-11, 25-19) victory over the Chadron State Eagles Friday evening at the Gallogly Events Center.

It was also the Mountain Lions' fourth Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference win in as many tries. Both win streaks will be on the line Saturday when UCCS hosts unbeaten Nebraska-Kearney, which is ranked No. 4 in the nation.

Megan Koop led UCCS (9-4) with 10 kills Friday, while Nikki Kinzer and Alex Wood each added seven, Kinzer's coming in just two sets played. Cindy Bathelt was the primary distributor with 27 assists. Lindsey Stich came in as setter in the third set and added eight.

Koop, who transferred to UCCS after two seasons at Colorado State-Pueblo, loves having Bathelt as her setter.

"Cindy is amazing; she knows how to get me the ball," said Koop. "She knows me personally like when I go up and my timing. We just flow well together."

But the story of this match wasn't how many kills were recorded, but rather how few were allowed. The Mountain Lions allowed just four Eagles' kills in the first set and six in the second, both 25-11 UCCS wins. Chadron State did manage eight kills in a 25-19 third set as the Mountain Lions went to their bench, but the Eagles hit in the red for the match, posting a -.043 percentage.

Sonja Johnson led UCCS with 15 digs behind a strong front line. Heather Sanders and Skylar Lewandowski each added eight. Those digs, along with serve receives, became the passes that let Bathelt work her magic.

"Our passing was amazing tonight," said Koop. "That's one of the things we mainly work on during practice is passing because if you can't pass, you can't play. I wouldn't be able to get any hits if it wasn't for my passers and my setters. They did so good tonight."

UCCS coach Keith Barnett made certain to mention another key factor

"It starts with the serve," he said. "Everything after that is a lot easier when you serve well and serve tough. We were able to do that tonight."

It was with Lewandowski serving that the Mountain Lions took control of the first set with a six-point run to make it 16-8. The Mountain Lions closed with a 9-1 run.

UCCS closed the second set with similar dominance. After opening 7-7, the Mountain Lions had runs of five and three before Lewandowski served up eight straight that included an ace and two kills by Jenica Shippy to make it 24-10.

UCCS coach Keith Barnett went deep into his bench in the third set as 13 of his 14 players saw action in the match. Two of those, Jasmine Sandoval and Lindsy Heisler, transferred to UCCS from Chadron State. Koop was the team leader with five kills in the set, though.

The Eagles are now 4-9, 0-4 RMAC.