LAKEWOOD, CO- The Cougars celebrated four fantastic seniors on Friday night as they closed RMAC regular season play with a home matchup against New Mexico Highlands. CCU celebrated their seniors final home game in style, taking down the Cowgirls in four sets to set them up well for a berth in the conference tournament. 

The first set was controlled the entire way by the home side, as Libby Goodman put down consecutive kills early. Suzanna Conner then took over, serving up a pair of aces and putting down a kill to lead a four-point run to send her team ahead 11-5. Lilly Woods slammed one home for a 17-9 advantage, and ultimately a pair of Cowgirl errors led to a 25-13 set victory. 

Set two saw more of the same from the Cougars, as they took control early and never looked back. A thunderous slam from Alli Douglass made it 9-4, and later the lead grew to 21-8 on a Renee Phillips ace. Another Goodman kill sent the Cougars ahead two sets to none as they closed with a 25-10 victory in set two. 

The Cowgirls showed great resilience in the third set, claiming an early lead at 14-7. A long run eventually made it 18-16 as CCU came back to within two. However, the visitors were able to buckle down and claim the set 25-19 to force a fourth set. 

A block to start the set put the momentum quickly with CCU, and they pulled ahead 6-3 in a hurry. After the Cowgirls went on a run for an 8-6 lead, The teams traded runs, and eventually Conner served up two more aces consecutively for a 15-11 lead. NMHU tied it at 19 apiece, and they took a lead on a controversial call at 22-21. The Cougars came out with fire after that call, as Izzy Jones tallied a kill as did Conner. Phillips ended things with a slam as CCU claimed the set and the match with a 25-23 set four win. 

Goodman paced the offense in her final home game with 13, while Conner tallied 11. Jones was excellent again with 44 assists, while Douglass picked up an impressive 17 digs. The team celebrated Goodman, Douglass, Madelyn Long and Mackenzie Close on this festive night, and the victory certainly sent them out the right way. 

The regular season now comes to a close for Colorado Christian as they finish the year with a 7-7 record in the RMAC. CCU currently sits at seventh in the conference standings, and with games being played by competitors tomorrow evening, the official announcement that the Cougars have clinched a postseason berth will have to wait. Stay tuned to ccucougars.com for all updates regarding the postseason and CCU volleyball.