PUEBLO, Colo. – In a matchup that already carried plenty of history, CSU Pueblo Volleyball added a chapter of its own Wednesday night.
The ThunderWolves erased a two-set deficit and completed a thrilling reverse sweep of No. 25 West Texas A&M, taking down the Lady Buffs in five sets, 21-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-23 and 15-13, inside Massari Arena.
The victory marked CSU Pueblo's first-ever win over West Texas A&M, snapping an 11-match losing streak against the perennial South Central Regional power in the 12th all-time meeting between the programs. It also served as a measure of revenge for the Pack after the Lady Buffs ended CSU Pueblo's 2025 season in the NCAA South Central Regional quarterfinals.
CSU Pueblo improved to 2-3 overall with the victory, while West Texas A&M also moved to 2-3. The ThunderWolves additionally extended their winning streak inside Massari Arena to 15 consecutive matches.
After dropping the opening two sets, the Pack needed a spark and found one in the third.
West Texas A&M appeared poised to finish off the match after building a 17-12 advantage in the third set. CSU Pueblo slowly chipped away before the Lady Buffs again went ahead 19-15. From there, the match changed completely.
The ThunderWolves ripped off five consecutive points, highlighted by kills from Finja Schul, Natalie Mobley and Brianna Pino, along with a Schul block, to turn the four-point deficit into a 20-19 CSU Pueblo lead.
Pino later gave the Pack a 21-19 advantage before another Mobley kill and a Madison Gardner service ace helped push the lead to 23-20. Pino eventually brought up set point with another kill and the Pack stayed alive with a 25-22 victory.
The momentum carried directly into the fourth.
CSU Pueblo raced out to a 15-8 advantage, using its block to frustrate a West Texas A&M attack that had hit .300 in the second set. The Lady Buffs answered with four consecutive points to pull within 16-13, but the ThunderWolves refused to surrender the lead.
Grace Helzer helped stretch the advantage to 21-17 before Andi Nothdurft came up with a block to make it 22-17. West Texas A&M made one final push, fighting off three set points and pulling all the way within 24-23.
With the Lady Buffs threatening to complete the comeback, Lilly Zwart slammed home the set-ending kill to give CSU Pueblo a 25-23 victory and force a decisive fifth set.
The ThunderWolves wasted little time taking control of the fifth.
After West Texas A&M scored the opening point, CSU Pueblo won a successful challenge to tie the set at one before going on a run. With Pino at the service line, the Pack scored five straight points to grab a commanding 6-1 lead, including a block from Nothdurft and Helzer.
West Texas A&M had one final answer.
The Lady Buffs clawed back within 7-6 before kills from Schul and Zwart helped CSU Pueblo rebuild its advantage to 10-6. Mobley and Pino later pushed the lead to 13-10, putting the Pack just two points away from history.
WTAMU refused to go quietly, scoring three straight to tie the deciding set at 13-13.
Then Pino took over.
The junior delivered consecutive kills on the final two rallies, putting CSU Pueblo back in front 14-13 before hammering home the match winner to set off the celebration inside Massari Arena and seal the historic 15-13 fifth-set victory.
Pino turned in the best offensive performance of her collegiate career, finishing with a career-high and match-high 19 kills while hitting .245 across 53 swings. Zwart followed with 14 kills, while Mobley also enjoyed a career night with a career-high 11 kills on a .222 hitting percentage.
Schul added nine kills while hitting a team-best .286 among players with at least 20 attacks.
The Pack's work at the net proved to be one of the biggest differences in the match. CSU Pueblo finished with 14.0 total blocks, doubling West Texas A&M's seven. Nothdurft was involved in five blocks, while Schul recorded two solo blocks and four block assists. Helzer added four block involvements of her own.
Chinaru Pao anchored the back row with a team-high 19 digs, while Gardner added 12 and Kendall Schmitz finished with 11. Schmitz also dished out a team-high 27 assists, with Gardner adding 16 as the ThunderWolves used multiple setters throughout the night.
West Texas A&M was led offensively by Kaycee Cavanaugh, who finished with 20 kills on a .348 hitting percentage. Anna Ruter added 13 kills while hitting .375, with Casey Loewer finishing with 12.
Despite WTAMU holding a 63-61 advantage in kills, the ThunderWolves forced 32 Lady Buff attack errors and owned the decisive 14-7 advantage in team blocks.
The five-set battle lasted two hours and 29 minutes in front of 367 fans inside Massari Arena.
For a CSU Pueblo team that entered Wednesday searching for its first victory over West Texas A&M, the ThunderWolves didn't just get it.
They did it after falling behind 2-0, winning three consecutive sets against the nation's No. 25 team and protecting a home court that has quickly become one of the toughest places to play in the South Central Region.
