The volleyball team triumphed over Western Kentucky in five sets on Friday but was swept by Middle Tennessee on Saturday in Hamilton Gymnasium.

On Friday, 424 fans turned out to support the Pioneers and were treated to a thrilling five-game match.

Excitement started early when, after exchanging points, it looked like Denver would begin to pull away, up 16-13.

There were no easy points, but as WKU continued to battle all the way to 24-22. After a DU timeout, the Pioneers set up freshman outside hitter Jordan Raines for the kill and won the first set 25-23.

Intense competition continued through the extremely close second set. The score was tied 11 times all the way to 24-24, forcing a win-by-two situation.

Hamilton roared as the Hilltoppers took the advantage and then Denver battled back. DU took the advantage and WKU answered.

The two teams clashed all the way to 32-32 until DU triumphed on a kill by junior setter Clare Maxwell to take the second set 34-32.

However, Denver’s momentum dwindled in the next two sets. The Pioneers went down by seven, looking worn out and sloppy after the long second game.

They could not come back, losing the third set 15-25 and the fourth 22-25 to force a fifth, tiebreaker set.

DU took an early lead in the fifth set and was up 8-3 when the teams switched sides of the net. Again, Denver let that lead slip and WKU evened the score to 9-9 when senior outside hitter Holly Benson came up to serve.

With fans again on their feet, the Pioneers won the next six points in a row to clinch the match, 15-9, and the stadium erupted.

“We came out, won the first two games, maybe didn’t play as well here tonight in games three and four, but obviously came out with a little more fortitude in game five,” said head coach Beth Kuwata. “We lose sight of what it is that we’re good at and when we do that for an extended period of time it kind of looks like games three and four.”

Although Kuwata will continue to focus on fundamentals in practice, she was pleased with the team’s cohesive play and the contributions of the freshmen.

“If you look at the play of Jordan Raines, when she is successful is when she is aggressive,” Kuwata said. “In game five she came out and took three of the best swings that she took all night. I think it set the tone for that whole set.”

Benson put up a strong effort as well, with 18 kills and the final six serves to clinch the game.

“Our main thought was to learn from what happened last week and to come out and be just as strong in game three as we were in games one and two,” Benson said. “Teams like this come out just as strong, and we can’t expect them to give up.”

On Saturday, 641 fans came out, but the game against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders was not inspiring.

In the first set, MT was equal to the DU attack and took an early lead 3-7. The Pioneers called a timeout and tried to regroup, but MT continued to power ahead taking the first set 19-25.

DU seemed to come out in the second with a new game plan and played MT more consistently, while keeping the score close. Determined to prevent the Raiders from walking all over them like in set one, the Pioneers sharpened their team play a bit, but ended up dropping the second set 17-25.

Continuing to let the match slip away, DU started the third game down 0-5. Despite a few nice plays in an attempt to hang on, Middle Tennessee swept with the third set win 15-25.

Absent was the cohesion that the Pioneers usually deliver, like in Friday’s game. There were even a few points lost where three or four Denver players stood still while watching the ball drop to the floor in front of them.

“I think in every part of our game it was a struggle, specifically attacking,” Kuwata said. “No one really got it going.”

DU struggled on both sides of the ball. Not only did players have trouble defending, but they also didn’t seem to be able to get the ball over the net.

“They did a lot of things that made us frustrated. They blocked us. I am not saying it is something that we are not used to, but not at the regularity that it happened to us tonight,” Kuwata said.

DU will prepare this week to host three more home games in a row before a series of road trips.

The Pioneers take on Troy on Friday at 7 p.m., South Alabama on Saturday at noon in Hamilton Gymnasium.