PUEBLO, Colo. (Sept. 24, 2021) – The Colorado State University Pueblo volleyball team completed its third-straight conference sweep Friday night with a dominating 3-0 win over Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) foe Colorado Christian University.
 
SET 1
The ThunderWolves began their domineering night with an aggressive kill from Payton Stack that would set the tone for the rest of the evening. CSU Pueblo started the first set on a 4-1 run and later expanded its lead to 10-4 to gain early control.
 
The 4-0 run that would lead to the 10-4 start was thanks to two kills apiece to Hannah Delor and Kasey Jahnke. 
 
To close out the first set, the Pack put together multiple small runs to continue to pad their lead and keep the Cougars in check. Through the entirety of the first set, the Cougars were only able to put together one run of 3-0 while the ThunderWolves put together four spurts of 3-0 or more.
 
Delor finished off the Cougars in set one with another kill. The Pack took a 1-0 match advantage after taking a 25-19 first set win.
 
SET 2
The Cougars defense began to wake up after Pack hit for .388 in the first set. Through the opening 12 points of the set, the Pack and Cougars found themselves in 6-6 tie.
 
Jahnke put together back-to-back kills to energize the offense and kick-off a 4-0 run for the ThunderWolves. CSU Pueblo was able to jump to a 15-13 advantage before the offense attacked aggressively once more.
 
Megan Mattingly kickstarted the offense with a kill of her own to start a 6-0 run and expand the set lead to 21-13.
 
The Pack were able to finish off another dominating set win with a kill from Jazzy Espinoza to give the ThunderWolves a 2-0 advantage after the second set victory of 25-17.
 
SET 3
The final set of the night saw more control by the ThunderWolves. The set started even and then grew to a commanding 13-7 lead by the Pack following a 5-0 run off of two Stack kills and an Espinoza ace.
 
The Cougars tried to claw back into contention but the offensive attakcs by the ThunderWolves were too much and took any momentum away from CCU.
 
Back-to-back kills by Mattingly and Delor put the match on ice and clinched the Pack's third set, 25-21 victory. The third set win clinched CSU Pueblo's third consecutive RMAC sweep.
Stack led the way for the Pack with 12 kills while Delor and Jahnke followed with nine and eight, respectively. Stack only committed one error while she hit .579 on the night to best anyone else on the floor.
 
Grace Hern and Sabrina King totaled the most assists for the Pack on the night. Hern compiled 15 assists while the freshman King tallied 13.
 
Leading defensively, Elaine Thibadeau racked up 16 digs while Stack led with three total blocks.
 
CSU Pueblo once again hits the court Saturday afternoon as the team will host third-ranked Metro State Denver at 4 p.m. in Massari Arena.