KINGSVILLE, Texas – Colorado State University Pueblo women's volleyball opened its 2023 season here Friday morning with a five-set 23-25, 19-25, 25-17, 25-16, 11-15 loss to Tiffin University in the first match of the Texas A&M-Kingsville Invitational at the Steinke Center.

The setback marked the first loss in a season opener for the ThunderWolves since suffering a 3-1 loss to Cameron University in Joplin, Mo., to open the 2019 season. The Pack will look to rebound later on Friday as they play the host school, Texas A&M-Kingsville, at 4 p.m. MT to conclude the first day of action at the TAMU-Kingsville Invitational.

"We made too many young mistakes early on and late. Those are things we'll grow through…but there are tough lessons to learn when you don't show up to compete from the first serve," CSU Pueblo head coach Austin Albers said following the match.

Sophomore outside hitter Sadie Scoville (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleasant Grove) led the Pack offense with a game-high 15 kills and added a career-high 14 digs in the loss. In addition to Scoville, redshirt sophomore outside hitter Payton Van Veen (Springfield, Mo./Washburn) added nine kills, but hit just .138 in the match. Freshman libero Braelyn Woodworth (Gilbert, Ariz./Perry) led the Pack defensively with a match-high 20 digs in her collegiate debut.
The Pack finished the match with 13 aces, including four each from Scoville and junior setter Sabrina King (Parker, Colo./Lutheran). King also added 19 assists, while senior setter Grace Jansen (Sandy, Utah/Jordan) had 22 assists, two aces and seven digs.

Tiffin had a balanced offensive attack as four players had nine or more kills, including Wakeya Wilson leading the way with 13 kills and seven digs. Kaylee Freund added 10 kills and hit .318 in the win.

For the match, Tiffin outhit the Pack (.232 to .223) and outblocked the Pack (8-7) and each team combined for 24 aces and 28 service errors. The Pack had 13 of those service errors, while Tiffin had 15 to go along with 11 aces.

Set 1: The first set was a back-and-forth affair as it featured 12 ties and five lead changes. The Dragons jumped out to a 7-5 lead early in the set, before the Pack responded with a 5-1 run keyed by three kills from Scoville to take a 10-8 lead. The lead, though, was shortlived as Tiffin responded with a 9-3 run to take a 17-13 lead. The lead eventually reached 21-16 when the Pack used a 7-2 flurry to tie the set at 23. The run was keyed by five errors from Tiffin. Tiffin would use a service error by King and an attack error from redshirt sophomore outside hitter Savannah Coats (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) to earn a 25-23 win. For the set, the Pack hit .184 and had 12 kills, including four from Scoville, while Tiffin hit .150 with 11 kills and three aces.

Set 2: The Pack scored three of the first four points of the set and led 15-12 when Tiffin used a 11-2 run to turn three-point deficit into a 23-17 lead. The Dragons run was aided by four aces, including three aces from Addison Conti. A kill by Scoville stopped Tiffin's run, but the Dragons would score two of the set's final three points to earn a 25-19 win and take a 2-0 lead in the match. In the set, the Pack hit .167 with nine kills, while Tiffin had 12 kills, four aces and hit .233.

Set 3: The Pack owned the third set as they hit .355 as a team and recorded four aces as they rolled to a 25-17 win. Scoville and Van Veen each had five kills and combined to hit .566 in the set as Van Veen hit .714 and Scoville hit .417. King had two of the Pack's four aces in the set. Tiffin hit .258 in the set and had three blocks, but didn't have an ace and committed three service errors.

Set 4: The teams battled back-and-forth early in the set as neither team led by more than two points, before the Pack used a 4-1 run to turn a 6-4 lead into a 10-5 advantage. Tiffin, though, responded back with a 6-0 run capped by back-to-back aces from Alivia Rew to take an 11-10 lead in the set. The Pack would mount a rally as they used an 8-4 run to take an 18-15 lead in the set. The Pack's run was capped by back-to-back Scoville aces. After the teams traded points, the Pack would close out the set by scoring the final six points, including capping the 25-16 set win with a block assist from redshirt sophomore middle blocker Golden Finch (Albuquerque, N.M./Cal State-Bakersfield) and freshman outside hitter Ceanna O'Loughlin (Beaverton, Ore./Jesuit). In the set, the Pack hit .227 with nine kills and seven aces, including a combined five aces from Scoville (3) and King (2), while Tiffin hit .167 with eight kills and three aces.

Set 5: The fifth set was another tight one early on as neither led by more than two points, before the Pack used a 3-1 run to turn a 10-8 deficit into an 11-all tie following a service error by Wilson. That would be as close as the Pack would get as Tiffin scored the final four points of the set, including capping the 15-11 win with an ace by Diana Heitkamp. In the set, the Pack were held to a .111 attack percentage, while Tiffin hit .538 with eight kills and two blocks.

Up Next: The Pack faces the host school, Texas A&M-Kingsville at 4 p.m. MT in its second and final match on the first day of action at the TAMU-Kingsville Invitational.