LAKEWOOD, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo women's volleyball concluded its two-match road swing here Saturday evening by posting a hard-fought four-set victory over Colorado Christian (25-15, 23-25, 25-22, 25-18) in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at the CCU Event Center.
 
The victory was the third straight for the ThunderWolves to improve its overall record to 8-10 and 6-2 in the RMAC, while CCU fell to 7-11 overall and 3-5 in the league. Saturday's win came about 48 hours after the Pack earned a four-set win at Chadron State.
 
"We love a hard-fought win to end another weekend on the road. CCU gave us everything we could handle and our ladies stayed the course and played some good volleyball down the stretch. These types of matches are bad for the blood pressure but great for our growth as a team. I'm proud of our fortitude on the road this weekend as we picked up two huge RMAC victories," CSU Pueblo women's volleyball coach Austin Albers said. "As we hit the halfway mark in conference play, we're looking like we're finding some ways to compete with consistency. Our ladies are starting to act like professionals and carry themselves with more poise and toughness. Win or lose, seeing them mature as competitors and teammates has been the real joy and is making it more fun to go to battle with this group every day. I'm super proud of them."
 
In Saturday's win, the Pack used a strong offense as they recorded 60 kills and hit .299 as a team, while also collecting 74 digs, seven aces and eight blocks.
 
Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Payton Van Veen (Springfield, Mo./Washburn University) was one of three Pack players with 13 kills and added four blocks and hit .314. Sophomore outside hitter Sadie Scoville (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleasant Grove) also had 13 kills, 21 digs and hit .346 and sophomore opposite side hitter Kendall Harrington (San Antonio, Texas/Tom C. Clark) tallied 13 kills and hit .310 in the win.
 
Freshman outside hitter Ceanna O'Loughlin (Beaverto, Ore./Jesuit) finished two kills shy of double-digits as she had eight kills, while redshirt sophomore middle blocker Golden Finch (Albuquerque, N.M./Cal State-Bakersfield) had five kills and hit .833.
 
Senior setter Grace Jansen (Sandy, Utah/Jordan) set the table for the Pack offense as she had 23 assists and two aces and six digs, while junior setter Sabrina King (Parker, Colo./Lutheran) added 20 assists and 11 digs.
 
Junior middle blocker Josey Nunn (Kingwood, Texas/Porter) had four blocks to pace the Pack.
 
Libby Goodman had 18 kills to pace the Cougars offense, while Renee Phillips added 12 kills, two blocks and hit .411. Izzy Jones had a match-high 37 assists and tallied five of her team's seven aces.
 
For the match, CCU hit .213 with 46 kills, 56 digs and seven aces. The Pack outblocked CCU, 8-5 in the match.
Set 1: The first set belonged to the Pack as they scored the first two points and led 13-9 early in the set, before CCU scored four of the next seven points to drop the Pack's lead to 16-13. That would be as close as CCU would get as the Pack closed out the set on a 9-2 run to earn a 25-15 win. In the set, the Pack hit .500 with five different players each recording three kills, while CCU hit .231 and had 11 kills.
 
Set 2: The second set was a back-and-forth affair as CCU jumped out a 12-6 lead, before the Pack responded with a 13-8 run to pull within 20-19 following an assisted block by Nunn and Scoville. After CCU scored three of the next four points to take a 23-20 lead, the Pack scored three straight points capped by a Jansen ace to tie the set at 23-all. Back-to-back errors by Pack gave the Cougars a 25-23 set win. In the set, CCU outhit the Pack, .220 to .179.
 
Set 3: Much like the second set, the third set was another back-and-forth affair as the Pack jumped out a 10-7, before the Cougars scored two of the next four points to pull within 12-9. The Pack, though, responded with a 7-4 run to take a 19-13 lead. CCU came right back and used a 6-3 run to pull within 22-20. The Pack would close out the set by scoring three of the final five points, including capping the 25-22 win with a kill by Van Veen. In the set, CCU outhit the Pack, .205 to 184 and the Pack had 13 kills, including six by Harrington.
 
Set 4: The fourth set featured 11 ties and six lead changes as the two teams traded the lead in the early going until the Pack turned a 12-all tie into a 15-12 lead following kills by O'Loughlin and Van Veen and an assisted block by Nunn and Van Veen. CCU would score three straight points to tie the set at 15-all, before the Pack used a 6-2 run capped by a Finch kill to push in front 22-16. After a kill by Abby Breeding brought CCU within 22-17, the Pack closed the set and the match by scoring three of the final four points to seal its 25-18 win. In the set, the Pack hit .383 with 16 kills, including five kills each from Scoville and Van Veen, while CCU hit .194 with nine kills and three aces.
 
Up Next: The Pack will return to action next weekend (Oct. 20-21) as they host Mines and No. 7 ranked MSU Denver at Massari Arena for the team's annual Pink Out matches. Friday's match begins at 7 p.m., while Saturday's match is scheduled for 3 p.m.