Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 PUEBLO, Colo. (Sept. 4, 2021) – The Colorado State University Pueblo volleyball team finished off the Steel City Showcase with two more win to move to 4-0 after the long weekend. The Pack defeated the University of Mary 3-0 and the University of Minnesota-Crookston in a thrilling 3-2 test of wills.

The Pack entered the day 2-0 with two sweeps Friday over Rollins College and Fort Hays State University.

Match 1 | CSU Pueblo (3-0) 3 – Mary (1-2) 0

The ThunderWolves' day started off with an afternoon match against Mary. Entering the day, Mary was 1-1 with a thrilling five-set victory over Chadron in the first match of Friday's edition of the Steel City Showcase.

The Pack seemed to be up to the challenge as they jumped ahead of the Marauders early and never looked back. The ThunderWolves dominated the first set and did not allow the rambunctious Marauders gain any momentum.

Throughout the 25-17 set, the Pack racked up 12 kills while making four errors and forcing nine attack errors from Mary. Megan Mattingly led the way through the first set, making five kills, one more than Jazzy Espinoza.

The second set saw more of the same domination for the ThunderWolves. Once again, the Pack were able to rack up 12 kills, this time featuring five kills from Payton Stack.
Hannah Delor joined in with two kills of her own as Grace Hern was able to tack on three assists to her six from the first set.
Mary was never able to get a run in the second set as the Pack waltzed to a 25-14 kill to take a 2-0 set advantage.

Not looking back, the ThunderWolves put the game on ice. The Pack tacked on 15 more kills while hitting .278 in the set. CSU Pueblo held Mary to single digits for the majority of the match as they continued to force attack errors and prevent kills, limiting the Marauders to five in the set.

The Pack clinched the match sweep, 3-0 with a one-sided 25-13 third set win.

Delor tallied four service aces to lead players in the match. Stack finished the afternoon match with a team-high 11 kills followed by Espinoza's eight. Hern finished the match with a match-leading 14 assists followed by an extra 11 assists from Sabrina King.

Match 2 | CSU Pueblo (4-0) 3 – Minnesota-Crookston (0-4) 2

The evening match saw a different challenge for the Pack. The Golden Eagles came out fast and aggressive against the ThunderWolves starting-six. Crookston and CSU Pueblo found themselves in a first set battle as neither team could put away.

After a 10-10 start, the ThunderWolves attempted to pull away after a block from Espinoza and Stack put the Pack ahead by two. Just two points later, the Golden Eagles were able to make a 4-0 run and establish a lead over CSU Pueblo.

Despite trailing 22-20, the ThunderWolves knotted it up at 22 but were unable to capitalize any further. Minnesota-Crookston took the opening set 25-23.

Needing to bounce back in the second set, the Pack attempted to rebound as quickly as possible. Once again, neither team was able to pull away. The Pack were able to put together a 4-0 scoring run and take a 7-3 advantage following back-to-back kills by Mattingly and Espinoza.

The Golden Eagles bounced back and evened it back up at 7-7 after a run of their own. An Emilia Carmosino kill energized the Pack and started a 5-0 run to regain a 12-7 lead.

Later in the set, Crookston got back within a point to close the gap to 20-19. The Pack buckled down  and put the match away by finishing on a 5-1 run that featured kills from Milica Djukic and Kasey Jahnke as well as an ace from Espinoza.

The 1-1 match carried into the third set with wavering energy from both sides. The third set featured another back-and-forth between the teams. The largest lead held by either team was three points. The set featured 11 ties throughout. The Golden Eagles out-hit the Pack 14-13 in the kills category as they took the set 25-23 and put the ThunderWolves in a 2-1 deficit.

With their backs against the wall, the ThunderWolves showed how strong the team was. Crookston jumped to a 4-1 lead to try and put the match away, but that momentum ceased. Kickstarted by a Mattingly kill, the ThunderWolves enjoyed a 7-1 run capped off by a Jessica Amend kill from Elaine Thibadeau.

After the Golden Eagles got back within three, the Pack jumped on another 4-0 run that featured a Stack kill and Grace Hern ace.  Later in the set, the Pack added to their already large lead by enjoying an 8-0 run capped off by a Djukic kill. Amend put the set away in convincing fashion by logging a service ace and clinching the match-tying 25-12 dominating frame.

After the momentum shifting fourth set, the Pack put their foot on the pedal and never relented. The ThunderWolves logged four kills to jump to an 8-2 set lead. The Golden Eagles would score one more point, but it did not phase the Pack in the slightest. Mattingly kick started another Pack run with a kill.

After logging six consecutive points, Espinoza put the five-set grind to rest with an aggressive kill. The 15-3 fifth set win was the most dominating set for any team during the Steel City Showcase.

Stack led the way in the second win of the day with 13 kills while hitting .385. Hern pulled the weight for assists as she tallied 20 in the evening match to lead the Pack.

In the fifth and final set, the Pack hit an astounding .615 from the floor as they tallied eight kills on 13 total attacks. Throughout the match, the Pack logged 12 aces and 10 total blocksto Crookston's six aces and seven blocks.

The Pack move to 4-0 on the young season as they emerged as the only undefeated team through the Steel City Showcase.
CSU Pueblo now looks ahead to their weekend trip to Alaska where they will take part in the Nankook Classic hosted by Alaska-Fairbanks.