After opening their 2015 season with a win on day one of the Oredigger Volleyball Classic in Golden, Colorado Christian University Volleyball fell into a skid of losses that sent the Cougars home with a 1-3 record. It was a disappointing ending to the season's opening weekend, but the results will surely prove useful as CCU builds on a foundation just beginning to be laid.
The Cougars lost to Cal State San Bernadino (three sets) before closing the weekend with a four-set loss to nationally ranked Northwest Nazarene University.
Against CSUSB, the Cougars struggled to light a spark. Though they nearly matched the Coyotes' offensive output (31 kills to CSUSB's 39), Christian's efficiency suffered against a stout San Bernadino block. Long CSUSB runs doomed the Cougars, who played chase through three straight sets. By the end of the match, CCU had produced a meager .067 attack clip compared to .326 from the Coyotes. CSUSB tallied an impressive 14 blocks in the three-set affair.
Senior Taylor Sturms led all hitters with 12 kills on a .143 effort. Middle Sophia Proano provided Colorado Christian's most lethal attack, hitting .312 on 16 attempts. Doing her best to set up her hitters for success was freshman Kylee Wurster, who totaled 18 assists.
Defensively, libero Joelle LeFevre paced the Cougars, notching a game-best 14 digs against the Coyotes.
"San Bernardino is a great program and they executed very well," commented Head Coach Andria Harshman. "We put everything out there we could but just couldn't get anything clicking on our end. We recognized, though, that the things we can control we need to control. We are learning from our mistakes."
The Cougars showed more fight in the day's finale, battling NNU point for point and flashing the execution they're capable of. When the Crusaders took set one, Christian answered with a commanding win and an impressive .306 team kill percentage in the second game. Unfortunately, the blue and gold could not maintain through the remaining sets, as NNU commanded control on the way to the four-set win. Never completely out of the game, Colorado Christian persisted with gritty play, but was eventually saddled with loss number three.
Keeping the Cougars in the game was a gritty defense anchored by sophomore libero Joelle LeFevre. On the way to a 25-dig effort, LeFevre ignited Colorado Christian with head-turning ups that gave CCU second, third and even fourth chances. Sturms and Wurster added 12 apiece, helping Christian out-dig the Crusaders 79-77.
Sturms and Proano again led the Cougars at the net, combining for 20 kills and just seven errors. Kaylee Pierce and newcomer Connie Olson added a combined 17.
Now 1-3 on the year, Colorado Christian will turn their focus to the coming weekend's opponents. The Cougars will travel to St. Petersburg, FL at the end of the week to compete in the Eckerd College Classic. CCU will play West Liberty and host Eckerd on Friday, before closing out the tournament with a pair of Saturday matches against Seton Hill and UNC Pembroke.
