COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs volleyball team notched 70 kills in 5-2 victory over Colorado Christian University on Saturday evening.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
- Final Score: W, 2-2 (20-25, 25-18, 25-21, 24-26, 15-10)
- Records: UCCS (18-2, 9-1 RMAC) | CCU (9-11, 4-6 RMAC)
- Facility | Location: Gallogly Events Center | Colorado Springs, Colo.
- All-Time Series: The Mountain Lions move to 36-25 all-time against the Cougars after Saturday's match.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Both teams hit the ball well early in the first set, as each tallied a hitting percentage above .400 through the first 22 points to land at an 11-11 score. Despite their prolific offensive attack, the Mountain Lions struggled to take control of the set, entering the 15-point media timeout with 11 team kills and down by one. UCCS took its first lead since early in the first set when Nicole Martin's second ace put the team up 18-17. The Mountain Lions would soon relinquish the lead as CCU went up 21-20 to force a UCCS timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Cougars would rattle off four more unanswered points to take the first set 25-20.
- UCCS took an early 6-2 lead in the first set and held on to take a 15-13 lead into the media timeout. The Cougars would tie the set up at 15 apiece after two UCCS attack errors coming out of the timeout. Three points later, tied at 16 apiece, Michelle Fredrick's fourth kill of the set sparked a 4-2 run capped by a kill from Payton Tompkins to force a CCU timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the run would continue, as Tompkins finished off the team's fifth unanswered point with another kill to win the second set 25-18.
- Much like the second set, the Mountain Lions took an early 8-2 lead in the third thanks to two kills from Tompkins and one from Sydney Hyde. The Cougars would eventually pull within two late in the set when the score landed at 20-18 in favor of the Mountain Lions. Despite CCU's best efforts, UCCS went on a 5-3 run to end the set and win 25-21.
- The fourth set began as a back-and-forth battle, but the Mountain Lions pulled away to go up by three entering the 15-point media timeout as Tompkins and Hyde both notched two kills apiece. CCU would tie the set back up at 17 apiece soon after the timeout and took the lead on the next point. The Cougars went on to take a 22-19 lead, but a Tompkins kill followed by Martin's fifth ace of the match brought the Mountain Lions within one. Another Tompkins kill would soon tie the set up at 23 apiece, but CCU went on to take the fourth set 26-24.
- The fifth set landed on an early 4-4 tie as Tompkins added three more kills to her total of 21. The Cougars later took an 8-7 lead, but a 3-1 run with kills from Kinley Gomez and Tompkins put UCCS back up 10-9. A 5-1 run in which Tompkins tallied three more kills gave the Mountain Lions a 5-2 match win.
MATCH STATISTICS
- Tompkins led the match with 25 kills. The next highest for the Mountain Lions was Hyde with 12.
- Two Mountain Lions tallied double-digit digs, as Alysse Marcoso tallied 14 and Mackenzie Ransom finished with 10.
- Audrey Dowd led the team with 31 assists, as Maylen Mitrovich also finished in double digits with 26.
- UCCS led the match in kills (70 to 61), assists (64 to 56), digs (70 to 68), service aces (7 to 1), and hitting percentage (.240 to .214).
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- UCCS head coach Tara Hittle reached 50 career wins with the Mountain Lions' victory on Saturday.
- The Mountain Lions are now 3-1 in five-set matches this season.
- Tompkins' 25 kills on Saturday evening marked a new career high.
- UCCS remains undefeated at home during the 2025 campaign after its victory on Saturday.
- Marcoso's 14 digs was her highest total of the 2025 season.
UP NEXT
- The Mountain Lions will travel to Durango, Colo. on Thursday, October 30 to take on Fort Lewis College with the match scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. (MT).
SOCIAL
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For everything UCCS Athletics, follow the Mountain Lions on social media and stay tuned to gomountainlions.com.
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.
