COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Regis University volleyball team made quick work of the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs Mountain Lions on Friday night earning a three-set sweep 25-20, 25-16 and 25-14 to get back on the winning track.
How It Happened: Regis (6-4, 1-1 RMAC) came to play one night after losing a four-set match to the No. 11 ranked Orediggers of Colorado School of Mines. Tonight, the Rangers let out some of their frustrations on a Mountain Lions team that looked like they never stood a chance. RU attacked with ferocity throughout the first two sets posting hitting percentages of .325 and .400 in back-to-back sets.
In set one, Regis tallied 17 kills and three blocks, and they owned a seven-point lead, 20-13, after three-straight kills from graduate student
Caitlyn Burroway, senior
Rachel Siurek and junior
Nadine Burbrink. Sophomore
Halle Theis closed out the set with a kill for the 25-20 opening set win.
The second set also saw the Rangers jump out to an early lead as they took a 7-3 lead through the first ten points. That lead grew to 10-4 after Burroway got another kill, UCCS had an attacking error and junior
Haley Kennedy aced her serve. The largest lead of the set came during a 4-0 run for RU as they cruised to a 23-15 lead late in the set. Burroway notched a kill to bring up set point, and for the second-straight set, Theis hammered home another set-ending kill to give Regis a 2-0 advantage.
As the teams prepared for the third set, the Rangers were looking to close the door on the match, but the Mountain Lions would not go away quietly. The home team quickly snagged a 7-5 lead after an attack error from RU and a kill of their own. However, a string of errors from UCCS coupled with some dynamic plays from Regis spurned a 7-0 run for the Rangers as they took a 12-7 lead and quieted the entire gym. Once the lead grew to 19-9, the writing was on the wall for the home team as they put together one last charge against RU. Regis thwarted the comeback attempt and freshman
Hannah Kepler claimed match point, and the three-set sweep, for the Rangers with her first kill of the evening on only her second attack attempt.
Game Notes: The offensive numbers were evenly distributed among many of the front row players, but it was Burroway (9 kills, .368 H%) and Theis (8 kills, .174 H%) who led the team. Sophomore
Maddy Mallory (6 kills, .273 H%), Siurek (5 kills) and Burbrink (5 kills, .500 H%) rounded out the top-five. Junior setter
Mara LeGrand had four kills in six attempts and did not commit an error. She also posted 30 assists and 12 digs in the match. Mallory was the match-leader with five blocks, and Burroway added three of her own. After a career-night last night, Kennedy collected two service aces to go along with 11 digs and two assists through three sets. The team registered their highest team hitting percentage in a match this far in the season with a .274 hitting percentage against UCCS. They also had a superb serve-receive as they committed only one reception error in the match.
Up Next for the Rangers: Following the win, the Regis University volleyball team will not compete again until Friday, September 24
th which will be a home contest against the Western Colorado University Mountaineers at 7 p.m. The following day, the team will host the Fort Lewis College Skyhawks for a match at 3 p.m. in the Regis Field House.
