GOLDEN, CO- Colorado Christian made the short trip up the highway to Golden on Saturday to take on RMAC rival Colorado School of Mines in pod play at Lockridge Arena. After dropping a close first set, the Cougars responded with three dominant set wins to claim the victory in 3-1. 

Abby Newell started what would be a tremendous night with the first point of the match on a kill, and consecutive blocks from Lilly Woods and Suzanna Conner and then Renee Phillips and Conner made it 6-4. The teams battled back and forth with Savannah Overson serving up an ace for an 11-10 advantage. The Orediggers fought their way to a set point at 24-21, and after CCU staved off a pair of set points, the hosts claimed the first 25-23. 

The second set was all Cougars as they began with an eight point run led by a trio of kills from Newell and back-to-back aces from Phillips. Mines fought back to bring things a bit closer, but Megan McNitt slammed a kill and Overson continued the hot serving hand with a pair of aces. Izzy Jones and Woods denied an Orediggers attack with a block, and Newell ended the set with a kill for the 25-17 win. 

The third set was more of the same excellent play from CCU as they ripped off a 12 point run off of a balanced attack that featured kills from Newell, Woods and Conner and a pair of aces from Jones. With a comfortable 13-3 lead in hand, the lead continued to grow to 22-10 off a block from Jones and Phillips. Newell closed another set win with a kill for the convincing 25-14 victory. 

Intent on ending the match in four sets, McNitt put down consecutive kills for a 10-6 lead. A pivotal five point run midway through the set sent the visitors ahead 15-7 on another Overson ace. Leading 20-17, the Cougars closed the match out in style, scoring the last five points with a pair of kills from Phillips and Newell to close the match out 25-17 for the four set win. 

Newell posted a career night, registering 26 kills in a dominant display, while Phillips and McNitt tallied 13 and 11 kills respectively. Jones was terrific with 51 assists on the night, and Shelby Hernandez was strong in the back row with 23 digs. 

The Cougars resume RMAC play with a home matchup against Regis on October 11 at 5 p.m. MST.