COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The University of Colorado Colorado Springs volleyball team (5-4 / 1-0 RMAC) defeats Colorado Christian (4-6 / 0-2 RMAC) by a final score of 3-2 (25-20, 19-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-13) on Whiteout Night for the Mountain Lion's home opener.

Both teams entered tonight's match with four wins, and on paper, appeared to be very evenly matched. That proved to be true through the first set, and every set thereafter.  

The first set went back and forth, with neither team gaining firm control. The Mountain Lions were led on offense by freshman Emily Whitelaw, who recorded four of her nine kills in the set, with a hitting percent of 1.000. Whitelaw finished the match also adding a match-high two solo blocks and a team-high three block assists.  

The second set concluded with the biggest win margin of the match as Colorado Christian tied the match 1-1 with a 25-19 win.   The Mountain Lions were led in the set by Kim Catlett, who recorded four kills and four digs in the second.  Catlett finished the match with 10 kills and 10 digs.  

UCCS came back from the intermission with a renewed energy, as the team altered their focus in an effort to battle more at the net. As a result, the Mountain Lions scored three team blocks, led by Whitelaw who had two block assists and one solo block in the set. UCCS went on to with the set by three points.  

The evenly contested match continued in the fourth set as the Cougars were able to reverse the roles to beat the Mountain Lions by the same score that they lost by in the previous set.  

UCCS made a late run in the fourth set as they tried to close out the match. Led by Kristen Sciacca, who scored five of her 11 kills in the set, the Mountain Lions came close to ending the match, but the Cougars persevered to extent the match into a fifth set. Sciacca finished the match with 13 kills and hit .370.  

The fifth set was dominated by Jordan Banich who scored six of her team-high 17 kills to help UCCS claim the victory at home to begin the conference season 1-0.  

Mountain Lion setter Grace Gordon had the best performance of her young career as she finished with a team-high and career-best 47 assists.  

Up Next: The Mountain Lions will be back in action Saturday night for the final match of Whiteout Weekend as UCCS hosts No. 19 Colorado Mines (6-3 / 1-0 RMAC) at 7 p.m. in the Gallogly Events Center.