ALLENDALE, MI- Colorado Christian took on two opponents on Friday, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The first matchup pitted the Cougars against Ursuline College, while the second competition saw CCU take on Tiffin University (Ohio). It was a tale of two matches as Colorado Christian swept Ursuline but later fell to Tiffin in straight sets.
GAME ONE
Set one against the Arrows was tight from the start, but a pair of Abby Breeding kills put her team ahead 16-12. Later a Suzanna Conner ace made it 20-14, but Ursuline refused to quit. The Arrows went on a run to bring it to 20-19 and went on to take a late lead 23-22. However, the Cougars buckled down and earned a 26-24 set win after some clutch play from Renee Phillips at the end of the set.
Using momentum from the first set, CCU jumped out to an early 5-0 lead thanks to a pair of aces from Izzy Jones. Ursuline fought back to take the lead, but midway through the set the Cougars put the set out of reach for good. Jones spread the ball around to many hitters as Lilly Woods, Abby Newell and Conner all picked up kills as part of a five-point run that put them up 19-11. Three straight points at the end gave the Cougars the set by a final score of 25-16.
Ursuline jumped ahead quickly in set three with a 5-0 advantage, but the Cougars did not let that sway them. A five point run tied things up at eight apiece, and from there Colorado Christian took over. The errors began piling up from the Arrows, allowing CCU to grab a 21-13 advantage. Connelly Kilgore closed things out with a kill as the Cougars picked up the sweep with a final set score of 25-19.
Breeding led the offense with 11 kills, while Phillips tallied nine. Breeding also led the team in digs with 10, and Jones notched 32 assists.
GAME TWO
Taking on Tiffin University (Ohio) in the second game of the day, CCU jumped ahead with a five-point run that was emphasized by a kill from Renee Phillips for a 9-5 lead. Douglass put down a kill to make it 14-9 as the two teams battled. Colorado Christian climbed all the way to a set point at 24-21, but Tiffin refused to go down easily as they scored three straight to tie it at 24. Another set point came at 25-24 off a Douglass kill. However, Tiffin picked up several clutch points to claim the set in a thriller 28-26.
CCU jumped on top 7-4 early off a Phillips kill, and the score stood tied at 15 midway through the second set. Unfortunately a run from the Dragons saw them go up 22-18, and they were able to close the door on the set with three straight points for a 25-20 set win.
Tiffin gained an early advantage as they built a 6-2 lead in the third set, but CCU relied on Douglass as she got them back into the set with a kill to make it 8-7. However, the Dragons then went on a six-point run to take control of the set. Breeding trimmed the Tiffin lead to 21-16 with a kill, but in the end the Dragons closed out the sweep with a 25-20 set win.
Douglass led the effort offensively with an impressive 20 kills, while Breeding chipped in 12. Jones had 36 assists and Woods contributed three blocks. Breeding played well on defense as well, leading the team with 12 digs to match her kill total.
The Cougars will close out their trip to Michigan with an early matchup at 8 a.m. MST against Davenport University on September 9.
