VS. Angelo State

Day two for the Cougars was off to a strong start, earning the first point of the day against Angelo State. The Angelo State Belles had a few unforced errors at the beginning of the set that allowed CCU to hold a three point lead for the first half. However the Belles were able to take their own three point lead in the middle of the set with a score of 15-12. Hope Baldrica had two big block assists to gain the Cougars some momentum, keeping Abigail Bartalo serving for four straight points. The Cougars had a tie game at 21-21 which caused The Belles to take a timeout. The short break gave the Belles the power to come back and win the set with a score of 25-23.

The second set was point for point until Angelo pulled away in the middle and got a two point lead. But the Cougars were able to fight back and tie up the game 20-20, continuing the point for point trend. Finally when the game was tied 23-23, the strong ASU offense closed out the set leaving the Cougars unable to get the ball in system. The final score was in the Belles favor again, 25-23.

The Cougars struggled defensively early into the third set which threw them off track. The Belles were unstoppable and utilized the Cougar errors as they finished the set with a score of 25-11.

Offensively, sophomore outside hitter Cali Bahnsen lead the team with 11 kills and a .346 hitting percentage, followed by senior right side Sophia Proano with 10 kills and a .368 hitting percentage. Overall, The Cougars hit .126 on the match to The Belles .236. Defensively, senior Joelle LeFevre and sophomore Mariela Gonzalez tied with 13 digs a piece to add to the teams total of 49 digs.

VS. Limestone College

The last game of the weekend for the Cougars kicked off a few hours after their loss against Angelo State. It was a much needed win for CCU as they defeated Limestone College in three. 

Both teams came in to the match eager for a win, with a tied record of 0-3 to start their seasons. The Limestone College Saints also played Texas A&M Kingsville and Angelo State, but The Cougars had a single set won under the belt unlike The Saints who got swept in all three matches.

The Cougars took the first set with a score of 25-18 over The Saints. Freshman middle blocker Jasa Scheierman hit an impressive .833 on the set, with five kills and zero errors on nine attempts. Sophia Proano also had an impressive hitting percentage of .400, with five kills and one error on ten attempts. Overall, The Cougars had a .391 hitting percentage on the set.

After a slow start, The Cougars took the second set with a score of 25-18.

Taking the third set by storm, The Cougars swept The Saints with a final score of 25-10.

Sophia Proano lead the team offensively with a .520 hitting percentage, having a total of fourteen kills and one error on twenty five attempts. Freshman outside hitter Jacey Johnson also had an impressive kill count of thirteen, with a hitting percentage of .400. Middle blockers Hope Baldrica and Jasa Scheierman also deserve credit for their .438 and .471 percentages respectively. This gave the team an impressive .403 percentage altogether. Mariela Gonzalez lead the team in digs in the match with nineteen, followed by junior setter Kylee Wurster with twelve. Wurster also had forty six assists on the match.

After his first weekend of play as the new head coach, Bobby Blanken said "Proud of our girls. We knew this was going to be a challenging weekend with the competition we were facing. Because we want to create a culture of excellence here at CCU, we really saw this as a chance to take steps in that direction. There were so many little things that improved over the weekend both individually and as a team and I am excited and hopeful for this coming week of practice."

The Cougars will continue their season next weekend with another four matches at the Lubbock Christian University tournament.