Box Score COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -
Cassidy Bush led both teams with 18 kills and finished with a .424 hitting percentage while
Madison Palmer made eight blocks and
Celeste Henderson added five service aces as the University of Colorado Colorado Springs won its third straight match in a 3-1 victory against Western New Mexico. Scores for the Mountain Lions (6-7 / 3-2 RMAC) went 25-23, 25-18, 26-28 and 27-25 against the Mustangs (4-8 / 1-4 RMAC).
The teams tied 10 times and exchanged the lead six times in a back-and-forth opening set, but a five-point rally at the midway point of the set put UCCS ahead 21-19. Western New Mexico tied it again at 23-23 before the Mountain Lions closed out the set with back-to-back kills from
Lauren Hahn for the 25-23 victory.
An eight-point rally early in the second set took UCCS to a 12-5 lead that it never looked back on. The Mountain Lions hit .270 as a team in the set for their best offensive performance of the night to take a 2-0 match lead on a 25-18 victory. Bush had seven of the 15 team kills in the set, while Henderson had three of her aces during the 8-0 run.
UCCS scored the first seven points of the third set, before Western New Mexico evened the set with its own seven-point run. A kill from Palmer set up match point at 24-21 for the Mountain Lions, but the Mustangs scored four straight to tie the set at 24-24 and eventually won the set 28-26. Western New Mexico recorded its best performance of the night in the set with a .244 hitting percentage.
The Mustangs took a 6-1 lead to start the fourth set in a bid to force a fifth set. The Mountain Lions put together a 9-2 run to take their first lead of the set at 13-11, and held a lead until Western New Mexico tied it again at 24-24. The Mustangs earned a set point opportunity at 25-24 before UCCS scored the final three points on two kills and a Mustang attack error to win the set 26-24.
Bush's 18 kills were a career-high for the sophomore, and she led a three-pronged offensive attack that included 16 kills each from
Kim Catlett and Hahn. UCCS finished with a season-high 13 blocks and the 62 team kills were the most in a four-set match this season.
The Mountain Lions will close out the three-match home weekend on Saturday in a 5 p.m., match against New Mexico Highlands. The Cowgirls (5-9 / 1-4 RMAC) won in three sets tonight at Chadron State.
