This weekend’s Denver Invitational for Women’s Volleyball saw an impressive and dominant showing by the now 11-1 Pioneers. After a sweep over Navy on Friday night, they secured back-to-back wins over Maryland Eastern Shore (3-11) and Samford (5-9). Denver comes off the invitational with a nine game winning streak and has swept opponents in exactly half of their matches.
This on-the-court dominance was certainly on show against Maryland Eastern Shore. In the first set, play was evenly matched with the score tied at 8-8 early on. However, the tide changed quickly as Denver rallied behind an incredible offensive effort to close the first set 25-12 after a 17-4 run. The second set saw a much closer competition; however, Denver ended the set strong in a 25-22 finish. The final set saw a miraculous opening begun by nine unanswered points and later a 17-2 run-up. Denver coasted to a 25-17 finish.
The opening match on Saturday was the fifth straight sweep for the Pioneers this season. An unstoppable offensive effort was at the root of the rout; Denver nearly doubled Maryland East Shore in points, kills, assists and digs. They also led in aces 14-3 and trailed only in blocks 2-4. To close out the invitational, Denver went head-to-head against Samford
Coming in with Denver as a heavy favorite, Samford surprised spectators by winning a first set 25-19 after a tight start. Denver countered by pulling their own victory in the second 25-20. With the match tied one set to one, the sway of the contest would be determined in a nail-biting third set. Both teams came out swinging hard; the score remained close. Coming to the 25-point mark, there had been seven ties. The score stood at 24-24, promising an overtime swing set. Samford and Denver went back and forth alternating points and allowing chances to finish, but neither team could bring it over a two-point differential. Ties popped up at every next point value, evening the pivotal set time and time again. The crowd stood on edge, reacting to every point with unbroken attention. Coming on 34-34, Denver had missed five chances to finish and fought off six possible eliminations. Finally, after two straight attack errors by Samford, Denver brought the match back at 2-1. In the final set, Denver finished the match with a strong 12-3 run.
Denver led Samford 11-0 in aces and 13-6 in blocks. They also led in points 83-64, with all other categories split evenly. Throughout the invitational, sophomore Ellie Anderson (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) posted 64 assists. Senior Becca Latham (Austin, Texas) had 36 kills, and junior Katarina Marinkovic (Belgrade, Serbia) showed high all-around stats.
The triple-header weekend pushed Denver into a nine game win streak. Led by a deadly offensive strike and backed up by a solid defense, this success showed why the Denver Pioneers were named as pre-season favorites to repeat as Summit League Regular Season and Summit League Tournament Champions.
The Pioneers will begin Summit League play on Sept. 21 against Oral Roberts University in a repeat of last year’s Summit League Tournament. Following that, the team will return to Hamilton Gymnasium for a game against South Dakota State on Sept. 23 at 2 p.m. MST.
