Colorado Christian Volleyball gave the Roadrunners of MSU Denver all they could handle Friday night, pushing the 22^nd-ranked MSU squad to five sets before finally falling 15-12 in the deciding game. The loss dropped CCU to 10-6 on the year and 4-3 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.
 
After prepping all week for a tough weekend of competition, the Cougars came out swinging in the opening set. A tight game turned into a Christian win, with CCU igniting for 14 kills and four blocks. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be a quick three-game victory for the Cougars. After losing a match on Thursday night, the home Roadrunners proved eager to return to the win column in a lopsided second set that had the home team on top from start to finish.
 
The back-and-forth drama ensued throughout the rest of the night, with both squads playing both hot and cold in the very same match. In fact, the same Christian squad that hit .400 in game three suffered from a negative .036 attack clip in the fourth.
 
Though they were the more lethal-hitting team in the finale, three service errors stung the blue and gold in the fifth, crippling all Cougar efforts at a come-back.
 
Lethal from the right side, junior Kaylee Pierce led Colorado Christian with 15 kills and a .344 attack percentage. Outsides Taylor Sturms and Ali Weber added a combined 23 kills, with Sturms the leader from the back row (13 digs) in addition to her efforts at the net.
 
Also in on the defensive action for the Cougars was freshman Angela Jurek, who tallied a team-high eight blocks. CCU tallied 12 blocks compared to 16.5 from the Roadrunners.
 
Another test awaits Colorado Christian this weekend – they'll make the short trip to Golden Saturday to square off against the nation's 13^th-ranked Colorado School of Mines Orediggers.