PUEBLO, Colo. – After playing its first nine matches to open the 2023 season away from home, Colorado State University Pueblo opened the home portion of its schedule here Tuesday evening with a three-set sweep over Adams State (25-20, 25-18, 25-18) in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at Massari Arena.
 
With the setback, the ThunderWolves improve to 3-7 overall and 2-0 in the RMAC, while Adams State falls to 2-8 overall and 1-1 in the league. The Pack extended its win streak over the Grizzlies to three straight matches and is now 47-42 all-time in the series.
 
"I was proud of the way we played tonight. Our crowd was tremendous and gave us a good homecourt advantage," CSU Pueblo head coach Austin Albers said following Tuesday's So Long Summer Match.
 
The Pack victory was paced by an offense that hit a season-high .400 as four players had seven or more kills, including sophomore opposite side hitter Kendall Harrington (San Antonio, Texas/Tom C. Clark) and redshirt sophomore outside hitter Payton Van Veen (Springfield, Mo./Washburn) each tallied 10 kills and hit a combined .432 as Van Veen hit .625 with 10 kills and no errors on 16 attack attempts, while Harrington hit .286 with four errors on 21 attacks.
 
Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Golden Finch (Albuquerque, N.M./Cal State Bakersfield) had a season-high seven kills and hit a perfect 1.000, while sophomore outside hitter Sadie Scoville (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleasant Grove) also had seven kills, five digs and one block.
 
The Pack were outblocked in the match 6-3, but recorded seven aces, including three from junior setter Sabrina King (Parker, Colo./Lutheran). ASU had just one ace and recorded eight service errors.
 
Senior setter Grace Jansen (Sandy, Utah/Jordan) and King each had 18 assists, while Jansen led the Pack with seven digs. Freshman libero Maddox Richtmyre (Surprise, Ariz./Willow Canyon) had six digs in the win.
 
ASU was led by nine kills each from Cindy Garcia and Angela Youngs. Natalie Gallegos paced the Grizzlies defense with three blocks and added seven kills, while Youngs tallied two blocks and hit .300. ASU hit .267 in the match.
 
Set 1: The Pack jumped out to a 4-0 lead, before ASU responded with a 5-0 run to take a 5-4 lead. The lead was shortlived as the Pack responded with a 9-4 run capped by a Harrington kill to take a 13-9 advantage. ASU would score five of the next nine points to pull within 17-13, before the Pack used a 5-3 run to push in front 22-16. Adams would pull within 24-19, before Van Veen capped the 25-20 win with a kill. The Pack hit .387 in the set with 14 kills, including five kills from Van Veen. ASU hit .212 with 13 kills.
 
Set 2: The Pack hit .500 and had 15 kills, including four each by Finch and Scoville to post a 25-18 win in the second set. The set was close early as it featured five ties, but the Pack used a 7-3 run to turn a 6-all tie into a 13-9 lead. ASU would respond by scoring four of the next seven points to pull within 16-13, but the Pack answered back with a 7-3 run to push its lead to 23-16. After a kill by Youngs brought ASU within 23-17, the Pack used a Finch kill and a solo block by Van Veen to cap the 25-18 set win. While CSU Pueblo hit .500 in the set, ASU hit .379 with 14 kills and three blocks.
 
Set 3: The third belonged to the Pack as they jumped out to a 12-7 lead and eventually pushed its lead to 19-11. The run was capped by kills from Harrington, Van Veen, King and Scoville. After the two teams traded points to give the Pack a 21-13 lead, ASU would score five of the next eight points to cut CSU Pueblo's lead to 24-18. The Pack, though, would cap the 25-18 set win with a kill by freshman outside hitter Ceanna O'Loughlin (Beaverton, Ore./Jesuit). In the set, the Pack hit .333 with 16 kills and five aces, while ASU hit .208 with eight kills.
 
Up Next: The Pack will once again hit the road as they open four-match road swing this coming weekend (Sept. 22-23) as they travel to South Dakota for back-to-back RMAC matches on Sept. 22 at Black Hills State and on Sept. 23 at South Dakota School of Mines. Friday's match begins at 6 p.m., while Saturday's match will begin at 3 p.m.