HONOLULU, Hawaii – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs volleyball team opened the 2025 season at the Hawaii Challenge in Honolulu, Hawaii, taking on St. Mary's University (Texas) on the campus of Hawaii Pacific University. The Mountain Lions came away victorious with a five-set win over the Rattlers.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
- Final Score: W, 3-2 (26-28, 25-22, 23-25, 25-18, 15-11)
- Records: UCCS (1-0, 0-0 RMAC) | SMU (0-1, 0-0 LSC)
- Facility | Location: HPU Shark Tank | Honolulu, Hawaii
- All-Time Series: UCCS is 4-0 all-time against St. Mary's.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Both teams opened the match trading points in the opening possession before the Mountain Lions started their attack. A Rattlers service error tied the match at 4-4, which sparked a five-point run as Payton Tompkins served up all five points, including two aces, boosting UCCS' lead to 9-4. Tompkins played a key role in another three-point run when she accounted for a kill and another ace, giving the black and gold a 19-13 lead. The lead was squelched by St. Mary's, who went on a 12-5 run to snag a 25-24 lead. An attacking error from the Rattlers tied the match at 26-all, giving the Mountain Lions new life, but SMU closed out the set with two kills to win the set, 28-26.
- The Mountain Lions evened the match with a 25-22 win in set two. UCCS switched the momentum from the end of the first set and used an attacking barrage of kills from Nicole Martin, Tompkins, and Sydney Hyde to snag a 4-1 lead. UCCS grew their lead to eight, 18-10, and didn't relinquish the lead to post their first set win of the season.
- The third set found the Mountain Lions down early to the Rattlers, 6-4. Hyde and Martin chipped in kills that were then paired with a block from Karlee Pinell and Martin to even the set at 7-7. Despite the Mountain Lions hitting .400 in the set and forcing SMU to commit eight attacking errors, UCCS was unable to regain the lead, falling 25-23.
- Set four saw UCCS grab an early 7-3 when Martin, Hyde, Tompkins and Kinley Gomez each contributed a kill while the Rattlers committed three errors. The Mountain Lions held the lead the remainder of the set, leading by as many as eight points to even the match at 2-2 with a 25-18 set win.
- In the fifth and deciding set, both teams tied the score four times before SMU claimed an 8-6 lead. Hyde's kill followed by an ace from Mackenzie Ransom knotted the set at 8-8. UCCS was able to regain the lead for the second time of the set when Gomez connected with Walker for a kill that put UCCS on top, 10-9. A 10-10 tie was broken on Walker's second kill of the set as the Mountain Lions notched five of the last six points to win the set, 15-11, and take the match win, 3-2.
MATCH STATISTICS
- Making her Mountain Lion debut, Martin tied for match high honors with 16 kills and committed only one error on 26 attempts for a .577 hitting percentage.
- Tompkins tied Martin for the most kills in the match when she tallied 16 kills to go with three aces and two assists.
- Playing in her first action for UCCS, Hyde contributed 15 kills and hit .542.
- Walker played all around the court, tallying 14 kills and digging up 18 attacks.
- Maylen Mitrovich shared setting duties with Audrey Dowd, notching 30 assists and adding 11 kills and 11 digs.
- UCCS hit the ball at a .329 clip behind 75 kills. They added seven aces, 70 digs and five blocks.
- Laurene Robinson paced the Rattlers with 16 kills and three blocks.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- UCCS set a new school record for the best hitting percentage (.329) in a five-set match.
- The Mountain Lions have won three of their last four season openers.
- Four Mountain Lions made their debut for UCCS tonight: Nicole Martin, Sydney Hyde, Kinley Gomez, and Karlee Pinell.
UP NEXT
- UCCS will play two matches tomorrow, beginning with a neutral-site match against Cal Poly Humboldt at 2 p.m. (MT) at Chaminade University, before heading over to host school Hawaii Pacific for an 11 p.m. (MT) match.
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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.
