COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The University of Colorado Colorado Springs snapped a four-match losing streak with a 3-0 sweep of MSU Denver to finish the 2015 regular season tonight in the Gallogly Events Center. The Mountain Lions (16-11, 11-7 RMAC) will be the No. 6 seed in the RMAC Tournament and will be on the road on Tuesday night for the quarterfinals for a second straight game against No. 3 seed MSU Denver.
Lauren Brown and
Alyssa Brinton both led the Mountain Lions with nine kills, and Brown hit .471 off of 17 attacks with one error.
Kim Catlett finished with seven kills in her final home match and made 13 digs, one behind
Natasha Habert's team-leading 14.
Morgan Evans made 30 of the team's 38 assists and
Taylor Hamilton made four blocks.
UCCS went on an eight-point run as part of a larger 10-1 rally to take a 12-2 lead in the first set and force MSU Denver to take both timeouts early. The Roadrunners cut the Mountain Lion lead down to six points at 20-14 before UCCS scored the next five points to win the first set 25-14.
Natasha Habert made two service aces while Brown and
Cassidy Bush both added kills in the rally.
Brown sparked another early run for the Mountain Lions in the second set as UCCS didn't trail to take a 2-0 match lead on a 25-21 win. She finished the set with five kills off of seven attacks and Evans recorded 14 of her 30 assists on the night in the set.
MSU Denver held its first lead of the match in the third set and the period included 10 ties and five lead changes. A small 4-1 rally for the Mountain Lions would be the final lead change in favor of UCCS, and the defense held the Roadrunners to no more than back-to-back points until the final stages of the set. Catlett served the final three points of the match in her senior night to secure the sweep of MSU Denver in a 25-19 set victory.
The Mountain Lions finished the regular season with 16 wins for the seventh most in program history and the most since 18 victories in 2012.Â
UCCS and MSU Denver will meet again in three nights in the RMAC Quarterfinals for the third time this season. The Mountain Lions have swept the season series with the Roadrunners for the first time in program history and will play in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m., in the Auraria Event Center in Denver.