The DU women’s volleyball team kicked off their 2023 season home opener on Thursday, against the Idaho State Bengals. The Crimson and Gold rang off three straight wins for a sweep in front of their first home crowd of the season. 

The first set was a tight back-and-forth game all the way to the end. Denver won the first set, 30-28, with the final kill coming from graduate student outside hitter Cassie Davis who finished with a team high 10 kills in the contest. The Idaho State Bengals didn’t make it easy for DU as they retied the game late on four different occasions. 

The second set was a continued ebb and flow between the Crimson and Gold and the Bengals, with Denver winning the second set, 25-18. 

Denver had a whopping seven aces in the second set, but the play was not without contest, the Bengals with ten kills to match the Crimson and Gold’s 11. The 25th point of the set was scored via an attack error because of a great blocking sequence done by graduate student middle blocker Cadi Boyer and freshman setter Briley Decker. 

The third and final set of the match was another hard fought set with Denver winning 25-18 and completing the sweep for the first home game of the season. The final kill was from Boyer, and Decker recorded her 33rd assist of the night, which was 29 more than the next DU player. . 

Denver finished with nine more kills than Idaho State alongside seven more aces. 

DU will start Summit League action on Thursday with a home matchup against the University of North Dakota. The squad will look to get their second win of the season in Hamilton Gymnasium at 6 p.m.