Colorado Christian Volleyball opened up their second preseason tournament at the 2017 Chap Classic in Lubbock, TX.  The competition was fierce as both of CCU's matches went to five ending in a clutch win against the Lady Chaps and a roller coaster loss vs the Greyhounds.
 
In game 1 vs Lubbock Christian University, the two squads were evenly matched.  The Cougs took the first and fourth set, while LCU grabbed the second and third. CCU's offense was sharp right from the start as they totaled 17 kills in the first set hitting .326.  Lubbock didn't have much power at the net, but stayed successful against the Cougs because of CCU's ugly 16 service errors.  These 16 unforced errors were detrimental to the Cougars game and consistently gave the Lady Chaps opportunities to score.  Despite the service line mishaps, Christian stayed on their feet and pounded away at the ball at the net.  After the fifth set victory 16-14 CCU finished the game hitting .231 as a team with 67 kills and 16 blocks.  
 
The Lady Cougs middle hitter Hope Baldrica scored her first double double of the season with 16 kills (.483%) and 11 blocks (1 solo).  This was a career high for Baldrica in both kills and blocks. Opposite Sophia Proano and outside Cali Bahnsen also tallied 16 kills.  Starting freshman Jacey Johnson looked nothing but new on the court as she had 13 kills and 12 digs.  Libero #17 Mariela Gonzalez cleaned the floor with 27 digs (tied with LCU's libero for most digs in the game).  The momentum from this victory carried over in to their second match of the day.
 
The Cougars had seen Eastern New Mexico early in the 2016 season at the Tarleton State preseason tournament.  This game also went to five, but instead had the Cougs smiling afterwards with a 3-2 win.  ENMU came out on top this time around making an incredible comeback after being down 0-2. 
 
The Cougars opened up the game looking sharp and clean.  In the first set after eight points, CCU went on a run to 21.  Eastern was down 21-8 and could not see light at the end of the tunnel as they lost 25-11.  The second set was similar in that CCU gained the lead and widened the gap.  Christian won the second set 25-12.  Set three is where the Cougars took their dive on the roller coaster ride.
 
The Lady Cougs played good and consistent in the third set until Eastern New Mexico caught fire when they were down 20-16.  With three kills and an ace, the Greyhounds were back in the game. It was point for point until 25s when ENMU had two solid kills to end the game 27-25.  The tables completely turned in set four as the Greyhounds grabbed the lead early on and won the set 25-16. Christian fought in the fifth, but ended up losing the game 15-12.  The stats were evenly matched except that CCU had eight less digs than Eastern.  The Cougars were stronger at the net hitting .226 total as a team with ten blocks.
 
CCU Volleyball will play Southwestern Oklahoma State University and Texas Women's tomorrow Sept. 8^th at 8:00 AM and 2:00 PM MST.