PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo volleyball returns to Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play this weekend (Nov. 3-4) as hit the road for match-ups at Western Colorado and Fort Lewis College.

The ThunderWolves open the weekend road trip with a 6 p.m. match in Gunnison, Colo., on Friday, Nov. 3 against Western Colorado, before traveling to Durango, Colo., for a 3 p.m. match on Saturday, Nov. 4 against Fort Lewis.

CSU Pueblo enters the weekend sporting an 11-11 overall record and an 8-2 mark in the RMAC after splitting matches at the RMAC Regional Pod hosted by Colorado School of Mines against Colorado Christian and Mines. The Pack fell in four sets to CCU and picked up a three-set sweep over Mines. The Pack has won 10 of its 14 matches since starting the season with a 1-7 record.

In the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll, the Pack were tabbed to finish fifth as they received 147 points in voting by the league's 15 head coaches. Last season, CSU Pueblo went 19-9 overall and 12-6 in the RMAC and advanced to the NCAA South Regional Tournament for the second consecutive season.

Friday's match with Western Colorado will be the first meeting this season and the 82nd all-time meeting in the series with the Pack holding a 42-39 lead in the series. The Pack have won three straight and nine of its last 10 matches overall, while Saturday's match with Fort Lewis will be the first meeting this season and the 79th all-time meeting as the Pack holds a 40-38 lead. The Pack have won five straight and seven of the last 10 match-ups in the series.

ABOUT THE THUNDERWOLVES
Leading the way offensively for the Pack this season has been its three-headed tandem of redshirt sophomore outside hitter Payton Van Veen (Springfield, Mo./Washburn University), sophomore outside hitter Sadie Scoville (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleasant Grove) and sophomore opposite side hitter Kendall Harrington (San Antonio, Texas/Tom C. Clark). Those three have combined for 66 percent of the Pack's kills as they have recorded 720 and have also combined for 90 aces, 468 digs and 111 blocks and are hitting a combined .294 on the year.

Van Veen, who was named the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 16, leads the Pack in kills (263), kills per set (3.25) and is third in blocks with 50 and fifth in aces with 18 and is hitting .295, while Scoville is second in both kills (231) and kills per set (2.82) and leads the team in digs (259), digs per set (3.16) and is second in aces with 33 and hitting .261 and Harrington, who was RMAC Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 23, is third in kills (226) and kills per set (2.94) and has had 26 blocks and is hitting .326. Scoville leads the team in double-doubles with 10 and has posted double-digit kills in seven of her last nine matches, while Van Veen has had six straight double-digit kill matches and Harrington has also had six straight double-digit kill matches.

The Pack offense is directed by junior setter Sabrina King (Parker, Colo./Lutheran) and senior setter Grace Jansen (Sandy, Utah/Jordan). King leads the team in assists with 447 and is averaging 5.45 assists per set and has had 139 digs and is third in aces with 24, while Jansen has recorded 418 assists and is averaging 5.10 assists per set and has had 145 digs and leads in aces with 39. Both Jansen and King have each recorded four double-doubles on the year.

One of the biggest strengths this season for the Pack is their ability to serve aces as they enter this week's action second in the league in total aces with 152 and also second in aces per set as they are averaging 1.85 per set.Five Pack players have recorded double-digit aces, including Jansen (39), Scoville (31), King (24), and freshman libero Maddox Richtmyre (Surprise, Ariz./Willow Canyon) (21) all recording 20 or more aces on the year. The Pack have had five or more aces in a match 18 times, including recording 10 straight matches with five or more aces.

Another strength for the Pack is their blocking as they are averaging 1.84 blocks per set and have recorded 150.5 blocks on the year. Seven Pack players have recorded 10 or more blocks on the year with redshirt sophomore middle blocker Golden Finch (Albuquerque, N.M./Cal State Bakersfield) leading the way with 61 as she is averaging 0.88 blocks per set, which is 10th-best in the RMAC. She has had three or more blocks in a match 13 times, including a high of seven blocks at Black Hills State. In addition to Finch, junior middle blocker Josey Nunn (Kingwood, Texas/Porter) is second with 54, while Van Veen is third with 50 blocks. Scoville has had 35 blocks, while Harrington has had 26, blocks, freshman outside hitter Ceanna O'Loughlin (Beaverton, Ore./Jesuit) has had 16 blocks and freshman middle blocker Macy Wood (Sandy, Utah/Alta) has recorded 12. The Pack have had five or more blocks in a match 17 times, including a season high 10 blocks against both UCCS at the RMAC Regional Pod on Sept. 29 and at Chadron State on Oct. 12.

In addition to Scoville who has recorded a team-leading 259 digs, Richtmyre, who was named the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 23, is right behind Scoville in digs as she has recorded 222 and is averaging 3.08 per set. She has also had 21 aces and 60 assists on the year.

As a team, CSU Pueblo has recorded 1,087 kills, 1,182 digs, 152 aces and is hitting .263 on the year, which is third-best in the league. The Pack are averaging 12.10 assists pet set, which is fourth-best in the RMAC and their opponents are hitting .215 on the year.

ABOUT WESTERN COLORADO
The Mountaineers enter the weekend having lost three of its last four matches overall with the lone win being a four-set victory last weekend at Black Hills State. WCU is sporting a 5-17 record and a 2-8 mark in the RMAC. The five wins this season are one more than the program won all of last season as they went 4-21 during the 2022 season.

Leading the way offensively for Western is sophomore outside hitter Maggie Olson and junior middle blocker Seyun Park. Olson leads the team in both kills (233) and kills per set (3.11) and is second in digs with 208 and third in aces with 19, while Park is second in both kills (222) and kills per set (2.81) and leads the team in blocks with 42. Park leads the team with a .334 attack percentage this season.

Setting the table for the Mountaineers offense is junior setter Nur Turkmenoglu, who is averaging 8.90 assists per game and leads the team in aces with 29 and has recorded 144 digs and 22 blocks.

Defensively, senior libero Elizabeth Rupprecht leads the team in digs with 287 and is averaging 3.68 digs per set. In addition to Rupprecht, Olson is second in digs with 208 and freshman defensive specialist Kacee Garcia has had 146 digs. On the blocking front, Park leads with 42 and is averaging 0.53 per set, while sophomore middle blocker Miya Alvarado is second in blocks with 24 and is averaging 0.40 blocks per set.

As a team, Western has recorded 868 kills, 1,114 digs, 796 assists, 114 aces and 98 blocks and is hitting .156 as a team, while their opponents are hitting .247 on the year.

WCU is coached by Jordan Bruere, who is in her first season directing the Mountaineer volleyball program. Bruere came to Gunnison after spending three seasons as the head coach at Dodge City Community College. Prior to coaching at Dodge City, she spent time as an assistant coach at Otero College. Bruere is a former CSU Pueblo volleyball player as she played for the Pack from 2012-15 and recorded over 1,000 assists and more than 600 digs as a setter.

In the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll, Western was tabbed to finish 15th out of 15 teams as they earned 37 points from the league's head coaches. Western was 4-21 overall and 3-15 in the RMAC last season.

ABOUT FORT LEWIS
The Skyhawks, who host Adams State on Friday before facing the Pack on Saturday, comes into the weekend sporting an 11-11 overall record and are 4-6 in the RMAC. FLC has won two straight and four of its last six matches overall. The Skyhawks earned back-to-back four-set wins at last weekend's RMAC Regional pod hosted by South Dakota Mines as they earned victories over UCCS and South Dakota Mines.

Leading the way offensively for Fort Lewis this season has been junior outside hitter Alexis Hobie. Hobie has recorded 225 kills and is averaging 3.31 kills per set and is hitting .182. In addition to Hobie, sophomore middle blocker Ella Butler has had 165 kills and a team-best 34 aces and is hitting .294, while senior outside hitter JJ Curry has had 161 kills on the year.

Setting the table for the Skyhawks offense is junior setter Natalia Lambos, who has had 768 assists and is averaging 9.60 assists per set and has also had 170 digs, 34 blocks and 12 aces.

Defensively, FLC is led by the blocking of Butler and senior right side hitter Lauren Shea. Butler leads the team with 65 blocks and is averaging 0.956 blocks per set, while Shea has had 48 blocks and is averaging 0.66 blocks per set. Junior defensive specialist Sarah Wilkey leads the team in digs with 323 and is averaging 3.94 digs per set and has had 30 aces, which is second-best on the team.

On the season, Fort Lewis has had seven players record over 100 digs as they are averaging 14.82 digs per set, which is fifth-best in the RMAC.

As a team, the Skyhawks are hitting .186 and have recorded 1,047 kills, 940 assists, 146 aces and 156 blocks, while their opponents are hitting .187 on the year.

Fort Lewis is coached by Gierde Tarnauskaite, who is in her fourth season at the helm of the Skyhawks volleyball program. Tarnauskaite is 31-51 with the Skyhawks, including a 21-26 record since the beginning of the 2022 season. Prior to serving as FLC's head coach, Tarnauskaite was an assistant coach at Seattle University and spent three seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Montana. As a collegiate player, Tarnauskaite played at Arkansas State and was a Second-Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection as a junior in 2003 and was named the SBC Player of the Year and an AVCA Honorable Mention All-Region selection as a senior in 2004.

In the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll, Fort Lewis was tabbed to finish ninth as they earned 93 points from the league's head coaches. Fort Lewis was 10-15 overall and 8-10 in the RMAC during the 2022 season.

UP NEXT FOR PACK
Following this weekend's road matches, the Pack will return home to Massari Arena next weekend (Nov. 10-11) as they close out the regular season with matches against UCCS on Friday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. and then will celebrate Senior Day on Saturday, Nov. 11 with a 6 p.m. match against 12th-ranked Regis University.