LAKEWOOD, CO- Colorado Christian battled #7 MSU Denver in a non-conference pod match at the CCU Event Center on Thursday evening in front of a raucous crowd. After stunning the Roadrunners with a set one win, the Cougars could not hold the momentum as MSUD came away with a 3-1 victory in the end.
The energy was palpable as the two teams got going in set one, and CCU took an early edge 5-2 on several aces from Renee Phillips and a kill from Libby Goodman. The lead eventually grew to 16-11 on a Lilly Woods slam from the middle as the Cougars were playing at a very high level during the set. The Roadrunners went on a run to tie things late at 23 and fended off several set points to tie things at 25 as well. Then, a pair of MSU Denver errors came at the wrong time for them as Colorado Christian celebrated a great set win 27-25 to put them ahead in the match with the top-10 Roadrunners.
The block of MSUD was the story of the second set as they time and time again disrupted the rhythm of the Cougars offense to pull away. With a 12-7 lead, they went on a run to take a 22-9 lead, and they closed it out from there with a convincing 25-11 set win.
The third set got away from the Cougars as well, as another long run from MSU Denver midway through the set took them to a big 17-6 lead. They eventually rolled their way to a 25-9 victory as CCU had to reset and look to force a fifth set after two tough set losses.
The rhythm of the first set began to show its form again for the Cougars in set four, as they jumped to a 4-1 lead on a Woods ace. Suzanna Conner entered and quickly picked up a pair of kills to spark the offense, and a late rally closed the gap to 20-17 as CCU looked to mount a comeback. At 23-20, MSU Denver closed with a pair of kills as the Cougars fell in a good battle with a very high quality team.
Lilly Woods led the offense with 9 kills, while Connelly Kilgore had a breakout night with eight kills as she repeatedly put the ball down at timely moments. Izzy Jones dealt out 31 assists, while Tarryn Debenedetto played good defense with 11 digs. Woods had a pair of blocks, while Phillips notched three aces on the night.
Colorado Christian will be back at home on September 30 as they take on Colorado School of Mines in another non-conference pod matchup at 4 p.m. MST.
