GOLDEN, Colo. – Lauryn Shockley scored two of the final three points to help the University of Colorado Colorado Springs volleyball team earn a 27-25 win in the fourth set as the Mountain Lions defeated Fresno Pacific University, 3-1, for their first victory of the 2019 season.  UCCS fell in the season opening match to Alaska-Fairbanks Friday morning, 3-1, at the Colorado School of Mines Oredigger Volleyball Classic in Golden, Colo.
 
FPU took the opening set, 25-19, but the Mountain Lions answered right back with a 25-19 win in set two to tie the match and would go on to win the final two sets, 25-20 and 27-25.
 
Three Mountain Lions recorded double digit kills against the Sunbirds behind Taylor Smith's match high 18 kills.  Smith connected on 18-of-33 attempts and only two errors for a solid .485 hitting percentage.  Shockley followed with 15 kills and recorded the fourth best hitting mark in program history in a four-set match.  She committed only two errors on 21 attempts for .619 hitting rate.  Aside from putting down 10 kills, Lauren Brown added five blocks at the net.
 
Emily Ettel coordinated the Mountain Lions offensive attack, tallying 52 of UCCS' 57 set assists.
 
Hannah Ammerman and Jordyn Kinsey each dug up 14 attacks. 
 
Strong defensive play at the net led to 10 team blocks.  Along with Brown's blocks, Ammerman assisted on four more blocks and Josie Russell got her hands on two solo blocks and assisted on three.
 
As a team, UCCS hit .300 offensively with 59 kills on 140 attempts and tallied a 65 percent sideout percentage.
 
In the season opening match against University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Ettel made her Mountain Lion debut with a team high 27 set assists.  Smith accounted for 12 of the Mountain Lions 45 kills after connecting on 33 attacks for 12 points.
 
UCCS started the match with a 25-20 setback in the first set but tied the match after claiming a 25-22 win behind 13 kills and a solid .267 hitting mark.  UAF reclaimed the lead in set three, 25-19, and won the match in set four, 25-20.
 
Jordyn Kinsey and Aly Morgan combined for 30 digs as the Mountain Lions registered 52 team digs.
 
Alaska-Fairbanks was led by Lahra Weber's 16 kills and Cate Whiting's 34 set assists.
 
UCCS will wrap up the Orediggers Volleyball Classic on Saturday with two matches against Dallas Baptist University at 9:30 a.m., and Lubbock Christian University at 12:30 p.m.