PUEBLO, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo volleyball team played its first home match in 18 days here Friday evening as the ThunderWolves suffered a hard-fought four-set loss (22-25m 25-15, 21-25, 25-27) to 10th-ranked Colorado Mesa in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action on Alumni Weekend at Massari Arena.
With the loss, the Pack fall to 5-10 overall and 3-2 in the RMAC, while Colorado Mesa improved to 15-1 overall and 5-1 in the RMAC.
Redshirt sophomore outside hitter
Payton Van Veen (Springfield, Mo./Washburn) and sophomore outside hitter
Sadie Scoville (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleasant Grove) combined for 29 kills, 21 digs, six blocks and hit .342 as Van Veen finished with 16 kills, four blocks, three digs and hit .304 and Scoville tallied 13 kills, 18 digs, two blocks and hit .407. The double-double was the sixth of the season for Scoville.
In addition to Van Veen and Scoville, sophomore opposite hitter
Kendall Harrington (San Antonio, Texas/Tom C. Clark) finished with nine kills and hit .208.
The Pack outblocked the Mavericks, 7-4 and the teams combined for 17 aces as Colorado Mesa had nine aces and the Pack recorded eight, including two each from four different players.
Junior setter
Sabrina King (Parker, Colo./Lutheran) had 24 assists and seven digs, while senior
Grace Jansen (Sandy, Utah/Jordan) had 21 assists, two aces and six digs.
Redshirt sophomore middle blocker
Golden Finch (Albuquerque, N.M./Cal State Bakersfield) had a match-high five block, along with hitting .750 as she had six kills on eight attack attempts.
Sydney Leffler and Savannah Spitzer each had 17 kills, while Emma Shaddix added 10 kills and hit .304. Sabrina VanDeList had 40 assists and 20 digs, while Allison Waller added 14 digs.
For the match, CSU Pueblo outhit the Mavs, .281 to .280 and each team recorded 59 kills on the night.
Set 1: The Pack held an early 3-2 lead in the opening set, before CMU used a 13-6 run to push out to a 15-9 lead. The lead eventually grew to 20-11, before the Pack used an 11-4 capped by a Van Veen kill to bring the Pack within 24-22. The Mavs, though, would cap the scoring on a kill by Shaddix to earn a 25-23 win. In the set, the Pack hit .255 with 15 kills, including five by Van Veen, while CMU hit .417 with 18 kills, including a combined nine by Leffler and Spitzer.
Set 2: CSU Pueblo dominated the second set as they jumped out to an 11-0 lead and never looked back as they hit .417 and held CMU to an -.082 attack percentage en route to earning a 25-15 win. After scoring the first 11 points, CMU would score eight of the next 11 points to pull within 14-8. The Pack, though, would score six of the next 11 points to push its lead back out to 20-13 following an assisted block by Van Veen and Finch. After an error by Pack brought CMU within 20-14, the Pack would score five of the set's final six points to tie the match at set each. The Pack had four blocks to one for CMU.
Set 3: Mesa led 7-5 early in the third set, when the Pack used a 6-2 run to take an 11-9 lead. The run was capped by a kill from Scoville and an ace by King. CMU, though, responded with a 9-2 run to take an 18-13 lead. The Pack would answer back with an 8-5 run capped by a King ace and a Harrington kill to pull within 23-21. CMU would close out the set with a kill by Spitzer and an ace from Hahni Johnson to cap its 25-21 set win to take a 2-1 lead in the match. In the set, CMU hit .366 with 18 kils, including seven by Leffler, while the Pack hit .250 with 14 kills and three aces.
Set 4: The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair as the teams combined for 17 ties and five lead changes. The Pack jumped out to a 10-8 lead early in the set and led 13-11 when CMU used a 9-5 run to take a 20-18 lead. A kill by Harrington and an ace by Richtmyre helped tie the set at 20-all. From that point, the teams would trade points until the Mavs closed the set by scoring the final two points to earn a 27-25 win to seal its 15th win of the season. In the set, the Pack hit .341 with 17 kills, including a combined 11 from Spitzer and Leffler, while the Pack hit .267 with 18 kills, including seven by Van Veen.
Up Next: The Pack will conclude its two-match weekend homestand with a 7 p.m. match on Saturday against Westminster (6-10 overall, 3-3 RMAC) following its three-set sweep Friday at Adams State.
