The Highlands Volleyball Team improved to 12-17 (6-11 RMAC) on 11/4 against the Mountaineers of Western State College. Highlands beat the Mountaineers in four (25-18, 20-25,25-20,25-17) sets while hitting an awesome .388 with eight blocks.
Highlands was paced by Senior Middle Blocker
Dominique Benton who had 15 kills, three blocks and two digs. Benton hit an impressive .429. Junior Outside Hitter
Ashley Nugent pushed the Cowgirls with 21 kills and hit .341. Senior Setter
Brooke Fahnestock helped out her offense with 46 assists, one service ace and 10 digs.
Defensively, Freshman Libero
Sheila Olaecheanotched 20 digs with three aces and five assists.
Western State falls to 6-19 (3-14 RMAC).
Olaechea opened the first set on a three point run, two of which were aces. The 'Girls controlled the set early and took advantage of all the opportunities they could, starting set one with a 17-10 lead. The Mountaineers started climbing back into the set by going on a 7-2 run, but a kill off the opponents' hands by Senior Opposite
Kelsey Groff sparked momentum and got the Cowgirls going again. At 19-16, the Cowgirls pulled away for good, going on a 6-2 run that closed out the first set 25-18.
The second set was plagued by Highlands errors that were timely and costly. 13 of the Mountaineers points were off of Highlands mistakes, which could have been easily prevented. The match shifted to two apiece after Western State was given a set 25-20.
Set three showed a completely different mentality than the previous set. Highlands came out swinging and ready to win, as they jumped out to an early 11-7 lead on a mixture of WSC errors and Nugent kills. The Mountaineers brought the set to within one, but Benton's arm swing was too lethal for the visitor's defense. The home team pulled away going on a 9-6 run as they closed out the set 25-20.
Highlands dominated the fourth set as they started with a 7-3 streak. The home team hit .050 better than their opposition in the fourth set alone, but tallied three more digs. The set was close until 12-11, when a kill from Groff spurred a five point momentum gainer. Western State could not recuperate and Highlands sealed the match confidently on a 5-1 run.
With this win, the Cowgirls are tied with Colorado Mesa University for the final spot in the RMAC West playoff spot. Mesa travels to Adams State College while the Cowgirls host CSU-Pueblo. Highlands needs to match what Mesa does or win to clinch their first playoff birth under Head Coach
Jim Deisler's reign.
View the Complete Stats
HERE.
The Cowgirls host CSU-Pueblo on 11/5 at 7 p.m. They will be honoring their three seniors –
Brooke Fahnestock,
Kelsey Groff and
Dominique Benton.
GO COWGIRLS!!!
