GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The first two contests of the 2020 Volleyball season commenced on Sunday afternoon for the No. 5 ranked Regis University volleyball team (0-2, 0-1 RMAC).
 
Regis suffered a straight-set sweep against Colorado Mesa University (1-0, 1-0 RMAC) in the first match of the day, followed by a five-set loss to the Colorado State University Pueblo ThunderWolves (1-0). The match against CMU was a conference matchup while the contest against CSU Pueblo was a non-conference affair.

 
GAME ONE | Colorado Mesa University |
How it Happened: The home team came out looking to make a statement against the fifth-ranked Rangers as they cruised to a large 25-14 win in the opening set of the season. The Mavericks enjoyed a .357 hitting percentage with 14 kills and only four errors in the first set. This was the best attack percentage of the match for either team.
 
Tied 3-3 in the second set, CMU scored seven-straight points to take a massive 10-3 lead before a kill from senior Caitlyn Burroway stopped the run. A short time later, a service ace from sophomore Haley Kennedy brought the score to 9-13 in favor of the Mavericks, and that is the closest Regis would come for the remainder of the set. Final score of the second set went 25-16 for CMU, providing a 2-0 advantage for the pregame underdogs.
 
The third set of the match proved to be the final of the match as the Mavericks rolled to a 25-20 win to upset the nations No. 5 ranked team. CMU had 19 kills out of their 25 points in the third set which put a damper on the season-opener for the visiting Rangers.
 
Game Notes: The Mavericks enjoyed a .357 hitting percentage with 14 kills and only four errors in the first set, which ended up as the best attack percentage of the match for either team. In the second set, RU was held to a -.026 hitting percentage as they committed nine errors and had eight kills. Individually, Burroway led the charge offensively with nine kills. Haley Kennedy posted 15 digs and sophomore setter Mara LeGrand registered 25 assists and four kills in the match, leading all Regis players with a .375 attack percentage. Sophomore middle blocker Ayala Plummer had four kills, and four blocks in her debut for the Rangers.
 
 "CMU is an interesting team. We struggled to defend their pins, and we committed too many errors, all of which did not allow us to overcome the deficit that we created. They won the serve and pass game today, which is a very important part of the game. It takes a a team effort to beat a good program like Colorado Mesa." head coach, Joel List remarks after the CMU game. 
 
 
GAME TWO | Colorado State University Pueblo ThunderWolves |
How it Happened: The second match of the day for RU was a back-and-forth tilt with the ThunderWolves of Colorado State University Pueblo. Regis won their first set of the year 26-24 as they posted a .333 hitting percentage.
The second set was a bounce back set for The Pack as they took down the Rangers 25-20. Once again, RU was held to a hitting percentage in the negatives (-.026) for the second time in two matches, committing 10 attacking errors which never allowed them to get into a rhythm offensively.
 
Tied at one set apiece following the second set, the critical third set began with back-to-back points from the ThunderWolves before junior Rachel Siurek scored the first Regis point with a kill at the net. That sparked a 6-0 run for the Rangers who took a 6-2 lead following an attack error from CSU Pueblo. The lead ballooned to 10 points for RU, 21-11, as sophomore Londyn Johnson put away her attack. At 24-18, Regis looked to put away The Pack in set three and take a 2-1 advantage in the match. Burroway solidified the third set win with her ninth kill of the match.
 
The 2-1 set advantage became a 2-2 tie after the ThunderWolves won set four 25-20 which forced a match settling fifth set. Keeping with the theme of the match, the fifth set was another back-and-forth battle between the two sides. The score was tied eight times during the first 20 points which culminated in an 11-9 lead for CSU Pueblo. A huge block from Burroway and Johnson kept the Rangers in the match 12-11. However, quickly after that block, The Pack brought the score to match point, 14-11. An attacking error from RU gave the ThunderWolves the win and dropped No. 5 ranked Regis to 0-2 on the season.
 
Game Notes: Burroway was the team leader with 15 kills for the second-straight match. She also posted a double-double adding 13 digs. LeGrand tallied four kills, 46 assists and she also added 15 digs for her first double-double of the season. Sophomore Londyn Johnson had a career-high eight kills and posted a .227 hitting percentage along the way.  For the second-consecutive match, Haley Kennedy led all defensive players for the Rangers with 22 digs. Overall, RU finished with a hitting percentage of .153 with 29 attacking errors and 13 service errors in the match.
 
"CSU Pueblo had a very well balance team that created a lot of challenges for our defense. We made far too many errors than we are used to, and they played with a lot of confidence, battling all five sets. We are grateful to have finally played,and now we have some time to address the long list of things that we need to improve upon", head coach, Joel List on performance against CSU Pueblo. 

Up Next for the Rangers: The No. 5 ranked Regis University volleyball team will host their first home series of the season on Sunday, February 7 against the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs Mountain Lions and the Colorado Christian University Cougars. The first match will feature the Mountain Lions of UCCS versus the home-sided Rangers at 10 a.m. UCCS and CCU will compete in a neutral site competition at 1 p.m. The final game of the day will be a 4 p.m. match between RU and CCU.