Colorado Christian Volleyball took to the court Saturday night vs Black Hills State University winning in five close sets. CCU started with a solid win in the first set 25-19.  Everything looked clean as the Cougs hit .250% with five total blocks, shutting down Blacks Hills' offense.  It was such a clean set that the next two losses came as a surprise and had the Cougars on their toes.
 
A combination of hitting errors, hitting into the block, and poor defense gave the Yellow Jackets the upper hand in the second and third sets 25-22 and 26-24.  Christian fought hard, but BH was in a rhythm that couldn't be broken, and CCU's rhythm couldn't be found.  It wasn't until CCU middle hitters Angela Jurek and Hope Baldrica started scoring points that the Cougs were able to get back into the swing of things. Jurek had five kills off seven attempts and zero errors and Baldrica six kills off 12 attempts and only one error in the fourth set giving the Cougs the victory 25-23. Christian survived and had all the momentum going into the fifth set.
 
Jurek scored the first point for Christian to start the fifth. The points started to roll for CCU as they had an early lead 3-0, then 6-3, and at the switch 8-6. The pattern continued though as Black Hills caught up once again and tied the game 8-8, 9-9, 10-10, 11-11.  The Cougars would get a kill, and then BH would get a kill. The Cougars would miss a serve and then BH would miss a serve.  It was 12-12 and with a wide open net, CCU outside hitter Cali Bahsen scored the point giving CCU the advantage 13-12. Two more points and the Cougars would be victorious.  Black hills hit the ball out to make it 14-12 and then Jurek scored the game winning point to end it 15-13. The gym went silent as Colo. Christian won. CCU swept both games in South Dakota, giving them a three-game winning streak and 5-1 record in conference. 

CCU's right side hitter Sophia Proano led the game with 19 kills and libero Mariela Gonzalez totaled a season high of 28 digs.

Fun fact: Gonzalez' career high in digs is 28 which happened last season Oct. 1st vs Black Hills State and then again in the 2016 season finale vs Campbellsville University. 
 
Head Coach Bobby Blanken commented on the game:
 
 "I am so proud of everyone who came into the game tonight and made an impact. Angie has been out with an injury since preseason and it was incredible to see her do as good as she did. The depth of our bench saved us tonight. It is exciting to see the overall growth of the team and the process of getting better every day in practice"
 
 
The Cougars will play a non-conference home game on Oct. 4^th vs Colorado College.