The Mountain Lions win in straight sets (25-16, 25-21, 25-19), as they beat No. 17 ranked Colorado Mines on Saturday, in Golden Colorado. With the win, UCCS improves to 7-3 overall and 2-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
The Mountain Lion's carried their momentum from last night's wins into tonight's matchup as they started out on an 8-2 run, before winning the first set 25-16. UCCS was led in this set by freshman
Jordan Banich, who recorded five of her game-high 17 kills. After checking back into the game with a score of 18-15, Banich scored five consecutive kills, to aid her team on a 7-1 run to win the first set.
Banich continued her stand-out play into the second set, as she recorded four more kills. This set, however, was led by senior
Nikki Kinzer who recorded five of her 10 kills in this set. Kinzer would also finish with three digs, and a game-high five block assists. The Mountain Lions were down by as many as four points in this set, which saw eight ties including a 20-20 score, before UCCS went on a 5-1 run to win the second set 25-21.
The third set was controlled by the Mountain Lions. After starting the set 4-4, UCCS went on a 6-0 run to take the lead, and never looked back. They led in the set by as many as eight points, on their way to winning 25-19 to close out the match in consecutive sets. The Mountain Lions would be led once again by freshman
Jordan Banich, who recorded eight of her game-high 17 kills. Banich also contributed to the UCCS defense as she added five digs and three block assists.
The offensive general for the Mountain Lions in this match was senior setter Lindsey Stich, who finished with a game-high 38 assists. Stitch also added two kills, five digs, and had the only solo block of the match.
The Mountain Lion defense was directed by freshmen
Kim Catlett and
Katie Maguire. Catlett finished with 15 digs and one block assists while Maguire recorded 14 digs and added two service aces.
UCCS will be back in action next Friday and Saturday night, Sept. 21 & 22 as they host Black Hills State and Chadron State at the Gallogly Events Center.
