COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (October 5, 2021) – The Colorado State University Pueblo women's volleyball team traveled to the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs where they walked away with a breathtaking five-set comeback win on Tuesday night.
 
Despite dropping the first two sets by a score of 25-15 in both games, the ThunderWolves stayed calm and poised to comeback and win in dramatic fashion.
 
The first set was all Mountain Lions as they took an early 8-4 lead, a deficit the ThunderWolves could not gain an edge on. The Pack also had a hard time keeping the ball in the court, recording a team hitting percentage of 0.29 on the set, as the Mountain Lions took full advantage to take the first set 15-25.
 
Heading to the second set, the Pack still failed to find a rhythm offensively, recording nine hitting errors and a -0.083 hitting percentage. UCCS took a 13-7 lead over the Pack that forced head coach Austin Albers to call his first timeout of the set. The Mountain Lions continued to hold onto a six-point lead throughout, closing out the set 15-25.
 
The Pack stepped up the intensity on offense to push to a 17-14 lead over the Mountain Lions. With the Mountain Lions staying close, two kills in a row from Maddy Wisniewski (Sr., Highlands Ranch, Colo.) and Hannah Delor (Jr., Marysville, Mich.) forced a Mountain Lion timeout at 21-17, however, that wasn't enough as the Pack went on to take set three 25-19.
 
The ThunderWolves used that momentum to jump out to an early 7-2 lead. Offensive struggles now on the Mountain Lions side, recorded 3 killing errors in the first nine points of play before the Mountain Lions were forced to call a timeout. The ThunderWolves controlled the remainder of the set and pushed to force a game five with a 25-18 win in set four.
 
Both teams would not give an edge in the fifth set before a Delor kill and Jazzy Espinoza (Jr., Chetenne, Wyo.) block gave the ThunderWolves a 13-11 lead. The Mountain Lions were able to score coming out of the timeout, however, were not able to handle a Wisniewski kill from the right-side, as the Pack walked away with a 15-12 win.  
 
"That's not the way we prefer to do it, but we will take the win however we can get it" stated head coach Austin Albers after the thrilling game. "Hats off to UCCS, they came out sharp and put it on us in those first two sets. They really played well and showed us what happens when we assist quality opponents in digging holes for ourselves to get out of."
 
Wisniewski led the team with a season-high 13 kills and two block assists while Payton Stack (Sr., Casper, Wyo.) and Delor (15 digs) tallied 12 of their own. Espinoza continued her block party adding two solo and three assisted blocks to her season.
 
Meanwhile,  the back row was secured up by Elaine Thibadeau (Jr., Monument, Colo.) who recorded 19 digs on the night while also adding four assists.
 
"Kudos to our ladies for staying composed and coming out with more purpose. Playing with your back against the wall will bring out the best in you, or the worst" Albers continued. "And I was impressed with our team's ability to stick together and respond. That was gritty!"
 
The ThunderWolves will have a few days off before heading up to Lakewood, Colo. to take on a tough Regis squad on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.