DENVER, CO- The Cougars headed to nearby MSU Denver on Tuesday night for a pod play matchup with the Roadrunners. CCU battled hard, but in the end the #2 ranked hosts came away with the sweep in a hard fought game.

The Cougars got off to a hot start in set one as a kill from Renee Phillips and a block by Abby Newell and Lilly Woods sent the visitors ahead 4-0. The teams went back and forth from there, and a five point run midway through the set made it 14-9 Roadrunners. Suzanna Conner dialed up an ace to cut the lead to 19-16, but five straight to close gave MSUD the 25-17 set win. 

Set two was a battle throughout as the teams traded blows and grappled for an advantage. Newell and Phillips gave their team a 10-8 advantage, but some key runs from the Roadrunners put them in control 22-16, and after a Megan McNitt kill, they closed the set 25-19 to take a 2-0 lead. 

The resiliency and poise of this Cougars team was on display in the third set, and a Shelby Hernandez ace sent CCU ahead 7-5. The hosts eventually fought their way to a 17-13 lead, but a Phillips kill and consecutive blocks courtesy of Phillips and Newell drew CCU to within one at 18-17. Izzy Jones set up Woods for a kill to tie the set at 20, and later McNitt slammed one home to knot things up at 22 apiece. Conner saved a match point at 24-22, but in the end the hosts came up with the final point for the hard fought 25-23 set win for the sweep. 

Newell paced the offense with nine kills followed by Phillips with eight and Woods with six. Jones dished out 28 assists, while Hernandez was strong with 17 digs. Phillips and Newell were stellar at the net with five and three blocks respectively. 

The Cougars continue pod play at Colorado School of Mines on October 5 with first serve set for 5 p.m. MST.