DALLAS – The start of the DBU Patriot Classic saw the Cougars drop a heartbreaker in their Friday before dominating in the second contest.
After playing two matches each last Friday and Saturday at the Dixie State Invitational and now a pair of matches today, Colorado Christian has split each doubleheader of the season.
The Cougars will look to end that splitting trend on Saturday when they play host DBU and Henderson State during the final day of the event.
Missouri Southern 3, Colorado Christian 2 (17-25, 25-23, 26-28, 25-23, 15-11)
It would have been fairly difficult to play a match that could have been any closer.
In a contest that featured 39 lead changes and 39 ties, the Lions did just enough in the ladder stages to rally and secure the win.
Colorado Christian jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the match after fighting off two set points in the third stanza before closing out the set win on back-to-back kills from Kristy Dick and Ashley Drye. In the fourth set Missouri Southern did just enough to maintain the lead through a majority of the set before winning the frame on their second set point.
In the decisive final set, neither team held a lead bigger than one point until the Lions took a 10-8 edge. However, the Cougars won three of the next four points to knot the frame at 11-11. Unfortunately the Lions secured the dramatic win by scoring the match's final four points.
The Cougars had numerous players put together impressive stat lines. Cali Bahnsen had 24 kills on a .389 hitting percentage from her outside position. Jacey Johnson and Ashley Drye each contributed a 16-kill performance.
Maddie Burns directed the offense with a 58-assist effort while Mariela Gonzalez registered 34 digs along the back lines.
Colorado Christian 3, Pace 0 (25-13, 25-19, 25-11)
It was no doubt win as the match took just over an hour to complete.
During the opening two sets the Cougars held Pace to a negative hitting percentage in each frame to help propel them to a commanding lead in the contest.
The third game proved to be the same story as the Setters hit negative once again as Colorado Christian cruised to the victory. As a team in the last frame the Cougars registered a .429 team hitting mark to help secure the dominating victory.
Kristy Dick helped lead the Cougars offense as she posted a team high nine kills with a .615 hitting percentage. Ashley Drye (7) and Cali Bahnsen (6) were just behind her.
Kaira Smith help lead a 10-service ace attack by recording a match high four service aces.
