COLORADO SPRINGS, CO- CCU drove south to nearby UCCS as the two teams battled for a conference win. With each team winning two straight sets, it was the Cougars who buckled down in the fifth set to win it by eight points and claim the match in five. 

Colorado Christian started strong as they took a 9-6 lead on a pair of kills from Connelly Kilgore. A four-point run led by an Abby Breeding ace pushed the advantage to 15-8. Libby Goodman later made it 18-12 with a kill and CCU eventually closed out the set 25-18. 

Set two saw another strong start from the Cougars as they claimed a 6-2 lead on several Mountain Lion errors. Renee Phillips made it 12-8 as she slammed one home from the middle, and the lead later sat at 20-15 after another Kilgore kill. Consecutive aces from Breeding gave the Cougars set point, and they finished it off with a 25-20 set win. 

UCCS was determined to extend the match past set three, and they did just that. Controlling the set throughout, the lead sat at 17-9 before the hosts lead grew to 23-12. They eventually claimed the set 25-16 to push the match to a fourth set. 

Kills from Goodman and Lilly Woods had CCU ahead 3-2 early, but the Mountain Lions went on a run from there to grab an 8-3 advantage. The Cougars could never gain the lead again in the set, as UCCS played well throughout the set to take it by a score of 25-17 and force a deciding fifth set. 

Every point is vital in a 15 point set and it is important to get off to a strong start to take control. Colorado Christian did just that, scoring the sets first three points on a kill and ace from Phillips and a Woods kill. A Kilgore kill grew the lead to 6-1 as things looked to be going firmly the Cougars way. CCU never let the hosts get too close, tallying three straight kills to bring up set point at 14-6. They closed out the set and the match with a final set score of 15-7 as the thriller ended in an important conference win for the Cougars. 

Goodman was effective all night offensively with 18 kills, while Kilgore and Phillips had 13 apiece. Izzy Jones remained consistent with another strong night as she tallied 43 assists. Savannah Overson had an impressive 18 digs, while Tarryn Debenedetto and Breeding had 14 each. At the net, Phillips had five blocks and Woods had four. 

After a victory to close the weekend of play, CCU will now host Adams State on October 13 at 7 p.m. MST.