HAYS, Kan. – Competing on the road for the first time this season, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs volleyball team headed East to Hays, Kan. for the 2024 Fort Hays State University Tiger Classic, hosted inside of Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Mountain Lions dropped the morning match, 3-1, to Northwestern Oklahoma State University, before being swept by the home team, Fort Hays State, 3-0, in the evening match.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
- Final Score vs. Northwestern Okla. State: 1-3 (22-25, 22-25, 25-23, 23-25) | vs. Fort Hays State: 0-3 (25-27, 10-25, 14-25)
- Records: UCCS (4-2, 0-0 RMAC) | NWOSU (2-3, 0-0 GAC) | FHSU (3-1, 0-0 MIAA)
- Facility | Location: Gross Memorial Coliseum | Hays, Kan.
- All-Time Series: The Mountain Lions move to 1-1 all-time against Northwestern Oklahoma, and 6-14 all-time against Fort Hays State.
HOW IT HAPPENED VS. NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE
- UCCS opened the weekend by snagging a 4-2 lead in the opening set on Friday, but a NWOSU 5-0 run put the Mountain Lions in a three-point deficit, 7-4. Several rallies later and trailing by six points, 16-10, Emily Pruitt led a 5-1 run after putting down two kills while Rylee Pitts and Sydnee Walker combined for a block to bring UCCS back within two, 17-15. Three straight kills from Pruitt, Payton Tompkins and Maylen Mitrovich evened the match up at 18-18, but the Rangers put the set away, 25-23, after back-to-back kills.
- The second set of the day saw the Mountain Lions in a 5-1 hole, but UCCS quickly got back on track after two Rangers attack errors, a Mackenzie Ransom ace and a kill from Pruitt that knotted the set at 5-5. With the set tied again at 16-16, Mitrovich set up Walker and Tompkins for a kill and another attack error from NWOSU that pushed UCCS' lead to 19-16. In the final stretch and both teams sitting at 22-22, the Rangers sealed the second set after forcing UCCS to commit an attacking error before putting down two of their own kills for a 25-22 set win.
- UCCS avoided the sweep with a 25-23 set three victory. An early 7-0 run brought UCCS out of a 5-4 deficit and gave them a comfortable 10-5 lead over the Rangers after the Mountain Lions claimed five kills and back-to-back aces from Tompkins. With the scored tied for the seventh time of the afternoon and the Rangers serving 23-23, Tompkins led her team to the set win after registering two straight kills to close out the set.
- Set four was another tightly contested battle as neither team led by more than three points. Serving on a 22-19 lead, the Mountain Lions attack by Danielle Varela was blocked by Mariela Jiminez who then turned around to put down a kill, cutting UCCS' lead to one point, 22-21. The Rangers regained the lead, 23-22, with two straight kills from Erika Asencio Soriano followed by another NWOSU block, putting the red and black into match point. Asencio Soriano committed an attacking error to give UCCS another chance, but the Rangers 12th kill of the set ended the match for the Mountain Lions with a 3-1 loss.
MATCH STATISTICS VS. NWOSU
- Tompkins registered her fourth straight match with at least 10 kills behind a team high 17 kills and a .250 hitting mark.
- Tompkins and Ransom each dug up a team high 14 NWOSU attacks as UCCS posted 64 digs in the set.
- Mitrovich orchestrated the Mountain Lions offense with 41 assists as UCCS hit .157 for the match. She added three aces and 12 digs.
- The Rangers Asencio Soriano collected a match high 19 kills.
HOW IT HAPPENED VS. FORT HAYS STATE
- Facing the Fort Hays State Tigers for the second time in a week and on the Tigers home court, Mitrovich put UCCS on the scoreboard first with an ace and a 1-0 lead. The 1-0 score would mark the last time the Mountain Lions led FHSU in the opening set as the home team went on an 8-1 run to jump on top, 8-2. UCCS cut into FHSU's lead and found themselves trailing by just four points, 17-14. Ahlers started a 4-0 run with a kill followed by two attacking errors and an ace from Ransom to knot the set at 17-all. The Tigers would outlast the black and gold in the final stretch, pushing the set to extra points as FHSU outscored UCCS 3-1 by way of three kills to take set one, 27-25.
- The Tigers owned the set second, 25-10, to take a 2-0 match lead. UCCS charted an early 5-3 lead but a 9-9 tie was blown open by Fort Hays State who went on a 16-1 run that featured nine kills and three blocks. The black and gold were out hit in kills (15-4), hitting percentage (.565 to -.136), and defensively at the net (five FHSU blocks).
- UCCS went right back to work to start the third set when Tompkins accounted for the first two points of the set off a kill and a block, giving the Mountain Lions their largest lead of the night, 2-0. UCCS held the upper hand over the Tigers until FHSU tied the set at 8-8 and went on an 11-2 run. After snagging a 19-10 home court lead, Fort Hays State outscored UCCS 6-4 to finalize the sweep, 25-14.
MATCH STATISTICS VS. FHSU
- Tompkins led UCCS offensively at the net again with nine kills as Pruitt chipped in seven kills and an ace.
- Twenty-one of UCCS' 24 assists came from Mitrovich who also added two kills, an ace and four digs.
- Ransom led the team with 13 digs while tallying an ace and two assists.
- UCCS was held to 27 kills and a.098 hitting mark.
- Gracie Rains and Claire Olson paced the Tigers with 13 and 11 kills each, respectively. FHSU finished the match with a .340 hitting mark, 45 kills, seven aces and eight blocks.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- UCCS' 159 total attacks against NWOSU are the second most this season, and their 92 attempts against Fort Hays State are the most in a three-set match this season.
- Several Mountain Lions recorded career highs Friday morning against the Rangers. Mitrovich put in new career highs in attempts (11) and assists (41), while Varela tallied 15 attempts and five kills for new career marks. Pruitt also dug up a career high 11 digs against NWOSU.
UP NEXT
- The Mountain Lions will close out the FHSU Tiger Classic on Saturday, Sept. 13 against Emporia State University at 9 a.m. (MT) and Truman State University at 3 p.m. (MT).
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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.
