Photo by: Jacob Rokeach
The Pioneer volleyball team won a pair of Sun Belt Conference matches this past weekend at Hamilton Gym, extending their win streak to an impressive seven games.
DU dominated the University of Arkansas-Little Rock on Friday with a three game sweep before defeating Arkansas State University by a close 3-2 margin on Sunday.
The wins helped the Pioneers to climb into a tie for first place in the SBC West division with North Texas University.
The Pioneers continued their hot play of late when they jumped out to an early 12-3 lead in the first game of Friday’s match. The early strong play would set a tone for the rest of the first game and the match.
After closing out the first game by a 30-18 margin, the Pioneers then cruised in game two to win 30-25, winning six of the game’s last eight points.
The final game, however, was much closer, as UALR responded to the Pioneer’s impressive play by dishing out a match-best 19 kills. It was not enough though, as the Pioneers outlasted UALR’s impressive hitting to take the match’s final game by a score of 30-27.
Pioneer Freshman Emmy Davidsmeyer and senior Lisa Hunter tied for the team lead with 12 kills apiece. Davidsmeyer, a middle blocker, also led the Pioneers with an impressive .525 attack percentage. Redshirt-freshman setter Clare Maxwell had a game high 45 assists.
The Pioneers, having gained momentum from their dominating win Friday, needed all five games and some heroics by Hunter to earn the win in Sunday’s game against ASU.
After falling behind early, the Pioneers rallied to an 18-8 lead in the first game and hung on to win two straight points and squeak out game one 31-29.
The Pioneers would lose the next two games by scores of 30-28 and 30-22, respectively, before drilling ASU with 21 kills while winning a critical game four to send the match to a decisive fifth game.
In the final game, the Pioneers traded points with ASU, forcing the game to come down to the wire. The game and ultimately the match were decided on back to back kills by Hunter late in the game to give the Pioneers the 15-13 win.
The Pioneers, whose win marked their last home game of the season, had four players finish in double digits for kills in the game. Hunter led the way with 23, while adding 14 digs and two assists. Next for DU was junior Kim Muller with 16 kills, sophomore Holly Benson with 13 and Davidsmeyer with 10.
The Pioneers have now improved their overall season record to 17-9, 10-4 in conference play, and will close out the SBC regular season this week as they travel to Louisiana to take on Louisiana- Monroe Thursday night, Louisiana- Lafayette on Saturday and New Orleans on Sunday.
