COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs rallied for set victories in the first and fourth periods, and was down 9-4 in the fifth set before a final push sent the Mountain Lions to a 3-2 victory against Eastern New Mexico tonight in the Gallogly Events Center. UCCS (5-4) finished the 2015 Steel & Silver Classic with 25-21, 23-25, 18-25, 22-25 and 18-16 scores against the Greyounds (4-3).

Kim Catlett led a balanced offensive attack with 19 kills while Cassidy Bush added 12 and Taylor Hamilton made 11. Bush led both teams with four service aces and tied for the match-high with nine blocks. Catlett made 11 digs on defense and Morgan Evans led both squads with 44 assists.

Eastern New Mexico scored seven straight points early in the first set to build a 10-4 lead against the Mountain Lions. UCCS tied the game at 16-16, helped by back-to-back kills from Catlett, but couldn't take the lead and the Greyhounds led 21-19 in the late stages of the set. A Kill from Bush sparked a six-point rally for UCCS that allowed the Mountain Lions to claim a 1-0 match lead with a 25-21 set victory.

The Greyhounds used a similar run at the end of the second set to turn a 20-18 UCCS lead into a 25-23 win to even the match at 1-1. Eastern New Mexico took an 18-8 lead before UCCS narrowed it to a five-point game at 23-18, but a Mountain Lion service error and a Greyhound service ace led to a 25-18 win for Eastern and a 2-1 match lead.

Eastern New Mexico led 21-18 in the fourth set, but ran into the substitution limit and had to play the rest of the set with the active players in the rotation. Catlett sparked a 7-1 Mountain Lion run to win the set 25-22 and force a deciding fifth set for the second time this weekend.

The Greyhounds led 9-4 before Miranda Sanchez made her first kill of the season to spark another Mountain Lion rally. UCCS pulled within a point at 9-8 and then tied the set at 11-11 with a kill from Bush. Eastern New Mexico scored the next two points for a 13-11 advantage and UCCS responded with three straight points out of a timeout for reach match point at 14-13. The Greyhounds tied the set at 14-14, 15-15 and 16-16, but the Mountain Lions capitalized on a pair of errors to win the extended fifth set 18-16 and the match at 3-2.