LAKEWOOD, CO- The Cougars returned to the CCU Event Center for the second straight day on Saturday afternoon as they hosted Westminster University. A balanced attack and strong defense led CCU to their first sweep of the season as they took down the Griffins in straight sets.
The first set was a competitive one as the teams tried to find their footing early in the match. After kills from
Connelly Kilgore and
Krista Traynor made it 7-7, the Griffins rattled off four straight points to gain an advantage. Trailing 13-8, CCU climbed back with a four-point run of their own keyed by kills from
Suzanna Conner,
Ana Aguilar and Traynor with a block from Aguilar and Conner in the sequence as well. The Cougars gained the lead at 17-15 after a Conner ace and they eventually surged ahead 24-19. Westminster would not quit though, scoring five straight with a pair of aces and kills to tie the set at 24 apiece.
Sierra Crist put down a kill to make it set point again, and Aguilar finished the set off with an ace for the 26-24 win.
Set two was all Cougars throughout as they rolled their way to a commanding victory. After Westminster scored the first point of the set, CCU rattled off five points in a row as Conner notched a kill and Crist and Aguilar combined for a block. Several attack errors from the visitors and a Kilgore kill made it 13-5, and the hosts later led 22-9 after a solo block from Crist. Crist was impactful in the set as she put down consecutive kills to close things out for the Cougars 25-12.
Set three would end up being the most exciting and drama filled set of the entire match as Westminster looked to avoid being swept. The two teams stayed close early, with the Griffins gaining a 13-11 edge midway through the set. An ace would eventually give them an 18-15 lead to force a timeout before CCU made their way back. Kilgore and Aguilar had kills to make it 20-20, and moments later Conner gave her team match point with a kill. Things got tense from there as two straight from the Griffins put the pressure back on CCU. Traynor and Kilgore responded with kills to bring up another match point at 27-26, but an answer came from WU as a kill leveled things at 27. With the set hanging in the balance, Kilgore made sure her team came away with the sweep, putting down back-to-back kills to finish the match with a thrilling 29-27 set win for the straight sets victory.
Kilgore paced the offense with 11 kills, followed by Traynor with 8 and Crist with 7. Traynor would post a double-double with a team high 20 assists and 13 digs, while
Allie Allen had 10 digs. Aguilar led a dominant block for CCU with 5 denials, and Conner and Crist had 3 blocks apiece.
The Cougars will continue their homestand with a big matchup against crosstown rivals MSU Denver on October 16 with first serve slated for 6 p.m. MST.
