UPCOMING MATCHES Friday, Oct. 12 vs. Regis University | 7 p.m. | Live Stats | Video Saturday, Oct. 13 vs. Colorado Christian University | 5 p.m. | Live Stats | Video

THIS WEEK
The University of Colorado Colorado Springs volleyball team (9-10, 7-4 RMAC) returns home to Gallogly Events Center this weekend after earning two match sweeps at Colorado State-Pueblo and New Mexico Highlands University. UCCS will play host to Regis University on Friday at 7 p.m., and Colorado Christian University on Saturday at 5 p.m.
 
UCCS is tied for sixth place in the RMAC standings with CCU (7-4 RMAC).  Regis' 9-2 record ties them for the third best mark.
 
This weekend marks the second time the Mountain Lions have faced RU and CCU.  UCCS opened the conference season Sept. 7-9 at CCU and Regis, falling to both teams by scores of 3-1.
 
SCOUTING THE RANGERS
Regis enters the week on a three-match winning streak 13-7 (9-2 RMAC). The Rangers lead the RMAC in assists (1,018), digs (1,223), kills (1,086) and total attacks (2,845).  Silvia Basso is the individual conference leader with 882 assists, while Kennedy leads all players with 107 blocks.

This past weekend they swept the Fort Lewis College Skyhawks. Juniors Izzy Gosar and Nikki Kennedy shined with 12 kills apiece. Gosar (.400 attack percentage) and Kennedy (.588 attack percentage) along with their kills led the Ranger attack. Freshman Kate Kleinschmidt followed with nine kills, while Caitlyn Burroway and junior Kelsey Green totaling six kills each. Kennedy, the nation's leading blocker, had another solid game defensively as she posted six total blocks in only three sets of work. Junior setter Silvia Basso had three blocks and three service aces on the night as she also tallied 40 assists for a 13.67 assists per set average. Senior libero Kristina Schell had 13 digs in the match to lead all RU players. The team combined for a .318 attack percentage, stopping nine attacks at the net and collecting seven service aces, led by Gosar who had four aces.
 
Match two saw the Rangers pull off another sweep, this time against Adams State University . Kennedy and Burroway combined for 22 kills on the night as they both posted a match-high 11 kills apiece. Green was the only other player with double-digit kills in the game but junior Izzy Gosar finished with a team-high .538 attack percentage with eight kills in 13 attempts with only a single error. Kennedy again recorded six blocks to keep pace as the nation's top blocker. Kleinschmidt added four blocks of her own. Junior setter Silvia Basso topped her performance from Friday with 41 assists on Saturday. Senior libero Kristina Schell posted a team-high 13 digs and Burroway notched her 12^th double-double of the season with 10 digs in the match.
 
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
CCU enters the week on a two-match winning streak (9-11, 7-4 RMAC). Their first match last weekend was a win over Adams State in four sets. Leading the Cougars offensively was Cali Bahnsen, hitting .370 and tallying 21 kills. Also, in the double digits was Katie Henry with 12. The dynamic freshman duo of Ashley Drye and Kristy Dick put up four blocks together. Mariela Gonzalez kept the Cougars going with 30 digs. Jacey Johnson pitched in 16 of her own digs. The final Cougar with double digit digs was Kylee Wurster, earning yet another double-double after dishing out 46 assists and 14 digs.
 
Colorado Christian swept their second match over Fort Lewis. Leading the Cougars in kills was a tie between Katie Henry and Ashley Drye, tallying 11 each. Leading in percentage was Hailey Ferguson with .500. The 51 kills came thanks to Kylee Wurster with 42 assists in just three sets. Mariela Gonzalez also had impressive numbers with 19 digs, averaging 6.3 per set.  
 
As a team, the Cougars lead all RMAC schools with 115 aces this season.
 
LEADERS IN THE RMAC
As a team the Mountain Lions rank third with 12.67 assists per set, which has set them up for another third best 13.49 kills per set. Their attacks are very efficient as they are fourth best at allowing their opponents to dig their attempts at 14.41 digs per set. Individually, there are several Mountain Lions ranked among the top 10 in the RMAC this season. Josie Russells' attack game has been very strong this year with her .310 hitting percentage. Raelynn Edge continues to set up her teammates at a very strong clip, posting 11.25 assists per set, good for third best, as well as 821 assists overall. Alyssa Brinton has 195 kills of her own at a rate of 3.15 per set. Lauren Brown's 0.92 blocks per set and Jordyn Kinsey's 4.48 digs per set are anchoring the defense.  
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Mountain Lions wrapped up last weekend with two road sweeps. UCCS defeated Colorado State Pueblo by set scores of 25-23, 25-16 and 25-18. UCCS used a balanced offense to finish with 42 kills and a .264 hitting percentage.  Alyssa Brinton paced the Mountain Lions with 10 kills to go with her three aces and three digs. Josie Russell chipped in nine kills and assisted on three blocks. Lauren Brown and Lauryn Shockley added eight kills each. Raelynn Edge accounted for 38 of the Mountain Lions 40 assists. Defensively, Aly Morgan contributed 13 digs and Jordyn Kinsey chipped in 11 as the Mountain Lions dug up 43 attacks.

Match two ended with another UCCS sweep, this time over New Mexico Highlands University. This was their fifth sweep in their last eight matches and seventh victory during that same span.
Taylor Smith notched 15 kills and hit an astounding .565 offensively. Smith committed only two errors on 23 attempts as the Mountain Lions hit .305 as a team.  Raelynn Edge orchestrated the offense with a season high 43 assists in three sets. Lauryn Shockley added nine kills, followed by Lauren Brown's and Alyssa Brinton's eight kills. Brown registered a .438 hitting mark with only one error on 16 attempts. Russell finished with five kills, a solo block and three block assists. Kinsey led the back row with a team high 14 digs.
 
UP NEXT
After two home matches this week, UCCS heads back on the road against Chadron State College on Friday, Oct. 19^th at 6 p.m. and MSU Denver at 5 p.m. on Oct. 20.