RAPID CITY, SD- The Cougars traveled up to South Dakota Tuesday night for a must win quarterfinal at South Dakota Mines. Led by a pair of career performances, the visitors stunned the hosts with a 3-1 victory to advance to the RMAC Semifinals for the first time since 2017. 

It was a packed house at the King Center as the home crowd was boisterous and raucous throughout. CCU played poised despite the hostile conditions, jumping to an 11-5 lead after three straight kills from Abby Newell. Renee Phillips tallied a kill before Newell went on another three point run of her own to already jump to six kills on the night. A Lilly Woods slam put her team in control 17-7, and a Savannah Overson ace had the set firmly in hand at 23-15. Phillips ended a dominant set with another kill for the 25-18 win. 

The Hardrockers settled down and came out strong in set two as they claimed an early 6-3 advantage. A pair of consecutive blocks from Izzy Jones and then Phillips swung the momentum as CCU took an 11-10 lead, and they continued to show great fight as Suzanna Conner and Phillips comboed on a block for a 17-16 lead. The hosts managed to grab a 23-20 advantage, and after Conner staved off set point number one, SDM closed the set out 25-23 to even the tally at 1-1. 

A pivotal and exciting third set ensued as South Dakota Mines took an 11-8 lead. A four point run from the hosts had things looking bleak at 17-12, but the resilient Cougars refused to go down without a fight. A kill from Phillips and a pair of slams from Newell saw CCU climb to within one. Trailing 20-18, the Cougars managed to get on a massive five point run as Newell found an entirely new level with two kills, a solo block and another kill to send her team ahead 23-20. The final two points of the set came off kills from Connelly Kilgore and Megan McNitt as the visitors rallied back to find themselves one set away from victory with the 25-21 set win. 

The Hardrockers came out firing with the first four points of the set, but a quick response came as Phillips and Newell put down kills and Woods registered a block for a 5-4 lead. It was a set of runs as South Dakota Mines proceeded to rip off five straight from there. CCU hung close and never let the Hardrockers get too far ahead. Trailing 19-17, the Cougars began to make their move as Alissa Gregory-Obiedo notched a crucial kill and Phillips put down consecutive slams for the 22-20 advantage. Leading 22-21, Colorado Christian buckled down when it mattered most as Gregory-Obiedo put down another slam and Newell capped a career night with back-to-back kills to finish things off as the Cougars celebrated the upset victory and advanced to the semifinals with a 25-21 win in set four. 

Newell moved to second on the single match kill record books at CCU as she had an incredible 29 on a memorable night. Phillips followed with a stellar 18 kills while hitting .516. Jones tied for second most assists in a single match in program history with an eye popping 63. The defense in the back row was excellent all night as libero Shelby Hernandez had 28 digs followed by 21 from Kristina House. 

With the massive win, CCU will advance to the RMAC Semifinals to take on a familiar foe in #2 seed Colorado Mesa. First serve is slated for 7:30 p.m. MST at the Auraria Event Center in Denver on November 22.