LAKEWOOD, Colo. (November 12, 2021) – In the final game of the 2021 regular season, the Colorado State University Pueblo volleyball team dominated Colorado Christian in three sets to finish fifth place in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play amid the conference tournament next week.
 
The ThunderWolves dominated the Cougars early winning set one 25-20 and set two 25-11. The Pack held the Cougars to a .000 hitting percentage in the second set while hitting for a .440 of their own. Set one consisted of 5 ties and 3 lead changes before a 5-2 run sparked by a block from Kasey Jahnke (So., Glendale, Ariz.) and Payton Stack (Sr., Casper, Wyo.) and a kill from middle blocker Josey Nunn (Fr., Kingwood, Tex.) gave the ThunderWolves an edge.
 
With the backs against the wall and fighting for the last two spots in the RMAC tournament, the Cougars wouldn't give up. Set three was more of a thriller as the teams battled back-and-forth through 9 ties and 2 lead changes. Most of which came in the tail end of the set when the Cougars tied the set at 22 points apiece.
 
Stack connected on a kill out of a timeout before the Cougars managed two straight kills to take a 24-23 lead. Megan Mattingly (Fr., Phoenix, Ariz.) powered through the Cougars blockers to tie the game at 24 before the Pack took the lead with a CCU attack that sailed out.
 
A well-placed block from Jazzy Espinoza (Jr., Cheyenne, Wyo.) and Stack looked like it was going to seal the deal for the ThunderWolves, but Espinoza got found herself colliding with the net to again tie the game, this time at 26.
 
Espinoza followed her error with a well-timed quick hit from the middle before Stack halted the Cougars comeback efforts with the final kill of the match and a 30-28 Pack win.
 
Maddy Wisniewski (Sr., Highlands Ranch, Colo.) stepped up big for the ThunderWolves leading the team with 12 kills off 19 attempts while Stack put down 8 kills and 3 assisted blocks of her own. Mattingly led the team with 15 digs while also recorded 4 kills and teammate Elaine Thibadeau (Jr., Monument, Colo.) tallied 14 digs and 9 assists.
 
The difference in the match came at the service line where the ThunderWolves went for 10 service aces compared to CCU's 2. The Cougars also gave up 8 serving errors on the night while the Pack managed a mere 3, tying their lowest mark of the 2021 season. Thibadeau and Grace Hern (Jr., Omaha, Neb.) each managed 3 aces.
 
The ThunderWolves will wait for the rest of the conference to finish up play tomorrow evening to see where the first round of the RMAC tournament will be played.