GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Facing the 10
th ranked team in Division II Friday night, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs volleyball team fell in four sets to Colorado Mesa University (17-25, 24-26, 25-21, 11-25) inside Brownson Arena.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
- Final Score vs. #10 Colorado Mesa: 1-3 (17-25, 24-26, 25-21, 11-25)
- Records: UCCS (5-11, 3-3 RMAC) | CMU (17-1, 7-1 RMAC)
- Facility | Location: Brownson Arena | Grand Junction, Colo.
- All-Time Series: UCCS has won eight of the 46 meetings against the Mavericks. The last UCCS win over CMU came on Nov. 5, 2016.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The home team jumped out to a credible lead to open Friday's match before Raegen Emery and Julia Geiger paired up to block an attack and stop a 7-1 run by the Mavericks. Midway through the set, CMU strung together two kills and two aces to snag a 14-6 lead and force UCCS to call their second timeout of the set. The Mountain Lions made a late rally by netting three straight points that cut into CMU's lead, 23-16, but the Mavericks put down two kills to win set one, 25-17.
- Set two nearly mirrored the start of the opening set as Colorado Mesa took a 6-1 lead before UCCS battled back. A CMU service error and kills from Geiger and Emery brought UCCS within three points, 7-4. The Mountain Lions called a time out after an 11-5 deficit and came out swinging from the timeout. Two attack errors by CMU that featured a block from Nicole Medlin and Lauryn Shockley was followed by two kills at the hand of Shockley and an ace from Maylen Mitrovich that capped a 5-2 run. The Mountain Lions found themselves again down by five points and again the visiting team rallied back. Down 20-17, Shockley rocked two kills followed by an attack error from CMU that forced the home team to call a timeout with just a one-point lead, 21-20. Coming out of the break, CMU committed another attack error before Mitrovich's ace that gave the Mountain Lions their first lead of the night, 22-21. Knotted for the fourth time of the set, 24-24, UCCS served into the net before the Mavericks put set two in the books with a kill, 26-24.
- The Mountain Lions owned the third set of the night to boast a 25-21 win. Geiger and Sydnee Walker tag-teamed to block a Mavericks attack to force their second straight error and snag an early 2-1 lead. The Mountain Lions found themselves with a 9-6 lead over the maroon and gold, but the three-point advantage was swallowed up by a 5-0 run. Trailing 12-10, the Mountain Lions responded with a 5-0 spurt of their own. After CMU served their eighth error of the evening, Rylie Hahn entered the action and served four straight points, highlighted by an ace that put the finishing touch on a 5-0 run that gave UCCS a 15-12 lead. Both teams found themselves tied at 21-21 but a Medlin kill and an ace from Emery put UCCS two points closer to wining the set, 23-21. A CMU timeout didn't phase the Mountain Lion as Emery stepped to the line and served another ace before Walker put down a solo block to seal the third set win, 25-21.
- After dropping just their sixth set of the conference season, the Mavericks came out firing in the fourth set and quickly took a 6-1 lead. CMU held off the Mountain Lions from making another comeback, holding UCCS to only eight kills and forcing eight attacking errors while the Mavericks hit a solid. 429 with 14 kills and only two attack errors on their way to a 25-11 win.
MATCH STATISTICS
- Shockley led both teams with a match high of 16 kills. She finished the night hitting .256 and added 14 digs and a block assist.
- Mitrovich notched 33 of UCCS' 38 kills and chipped in 11 digs, two aces and a kill.
- Emery was solid at both sides of the net with five kills and assisting on five blocks.
- Libero Mackenzie Ransom tied for match high honors with 16 digs.
- Four Mavericks registered double digit kills. Savannah Spitzer paced CMU with 15 kills and hit .361, while Sydney Leffler chipped in 14 kills and Aesha Alrashed posted 12 kills and a .556 hitting mark.
- UCCS collected 40 kills as a team and hit .137. They served up seven aces and blocked nine attacks while digging up 57 attacks.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The Mountain Lions 57 attempts are the second most this season in a four-set match, and their nine blocks are third most in a match in 2023.
- Shockley's 16 kills are the most by any Mountain Lion this season, and her 39 attempts ties her for the most in a match and the most in a four-set match. Her 16.5 points tonight also ties her for the most points tallied in a four-set match.
- Ransom's 16 digs are the second most in a four-set match while Emery's five blocks are the third most.
- Emery's five blocks tonight marks a new career high while Walker's solo block to win the third set was her first career solo stop.
- Shockley continues to move up the career charts. Her 16 kills tonight moves her to fifth all-time (1,046), while her 16.5 points brought her career total to 1,212 points, the eighth most in program history. She also played in her 117th career match (tied-third all-time) and her 426th career set (eighth all-time).
UP NEXT
- The Mountain Lions will continue westward on Saturday for a 4 p.m. match at Westminster University.
SOCIAL
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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 14 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.
