Senior Opposite
Kelsey Groff had a double-double with 10 kills and 21 digs, and Sophomore Outside Hitter
Darian Mullen paced Highlands with 19 kills and a .295 hitting percentage in the Cowgirls five set loss to Colorado Christian University. The scores were 25-12, 26-28, 23-25, 25-21, 25-23.
Freshman Libero
Sheila Olaechea notched 25 digs and four assists which aided in Senior Setter
Brooke Fahnestock's 52 assists.
The epic battle was two and a half hours long and there were a total of 138 kills.
Highlands struggled the first set as Christian started strong with a 15-7 run that seemed to set the tone for the entire match. The Cougars outhit the visitor's .682-.208
Unyielding, the Cowgirls bounced back midway through the second set and started playing efficiently and in system. Down 18-21, a kill from Junior Outside Hitter
Ashley Nugent sparked a momentum shift for the 'Girls to gave them the 22-21 lead. Tied at 23, a Brooke Wittmayer service error started the see-saw final points, but the Cowgirls stood their ground and took set two 28-26.
Set three was controlled entirely by the Cowgirls who started with a 10-4 run and a 5-1 string of points at 12-7. Highlands took set three 25-23.
The Cowgirls earned the first three of five points in set four as Mullen and Senior Middle Blocker
Dominique Benton effectively put holes in the floor. But, the CCU home crowd helped the momentum shift as the Cougars tied the set at seven apiece. The Cowgirls hitting percentage was not good enough to write home about at .146, but neither was the Cougars .111.
If a match goes to a fifth set, it is supposed to end at 15-13, but it took Colorado Christian 10 more points to finish the job as they took the final set 25-23. The set was tied at 8-8 until the Cougars went on a 4-0 run. Head Coach
Jim Deisler took a well-planned timeout and turned his Court Cowgirls around. Fahnestock used the timeout and earned a point off of an Olaechea perfect reception. The Cowgirls earned four of the next five points on blocks from Benton and Mullen.
Back and forth the teams went, trading match points until 23-all when an assist error from Fahnestock and block from Tija Rudzitis and Lauren Rosenthal sealed the match for the Cougars.
View the Complete Stats
HERE.
The Cowgirls host University of the Southwest on 10/19 at 6 p.m.
GO COWGIRLS!!!
