RAPID CITY, SD- Colorado Christian closed their weekend with an important RMAC matchup at South Dakota Mines on Saturday. The Cougars gained momentum early and never lost it, taking down the Hardrockers in straight sets to improve to 4-0 in conference play and running their win streak to eight games. 

The offense got to work early as Connelly Kilgore, Suzanna Conner and Janelle Deboer put down kills for an 11-9 lead. An important three-point stretch saw Krista Traynor notch a kill followed by consecutive aces from Renee Phillips as CCU stretched the lead to 18-13. The Cougars never looked back as another Conner kill brought up set point, and Phillips and Alissa Gregory-Obiedo combined for a set-clinching block in the 25-19 victory. 

The Hardrockers came out hot in set two, taking a quick 5-1 lead, but CCU was not deterred and began to chip away at the deficit. Kills by Phillips and Traynor brought the Cougars within one at 13-12, and another Phillips slam later gave her team the 19-18 lead, their first of the set. With things all tied up at 20-20, Colorado Christian did what they do best, closing the set out on a 5-0 run. Kilgore had a pair of kills in the sequence, and Phillips had another two aces, the last coming on set point for the 25-20 win to deflate the hosts. 

Looking for their second straight sweep in the state of South Dakota this weekend, CCU came out with a balanced attack early in set three. Conner and Sierra Crist put down kills, and a Phillips and Conner block had the visitors rolling early. Traynor served up back-to-back aces as the service game continued to be a strong point to push the Cougars to a 14-8 advantage. It was all CCU from there as they dominated the final set, taking a 24-13 lead after consecutive kills by Kilgore. A few points from SDM made the score look closer than it truly was, but an attack error ended the sweep in favor of the Cougars 25-18. 

Phillips had an incredible night, leading her team with 14 kills, 4 aces and 3 blocks all while hitting an astounding .667. Kilgore had 10 kills, followed by Conner with eight. The reigning RMAC Setter of the Week Traynor dished out 32 assists and had 3 aces, while Kristina House notched 11 digs to lead the back row. 

The Cougars will carry plenty of momentum into their next match in Golden on September 30 as they take on Colorado School of Mines in a non-conference pod matchup at 7 p.m. MST inside Lockridge Arena.