A weekend sweep for the women’s volleyball squad, a tally in the win column for the women’s soccer team and a fall tournament debut for the men’s golf team.
Here’s what happened last week in University of Denver athletics.
Women’s Volleyball
DU women’s volleyball improved to 3-7 this past weekend after sweeping North Dakota Thursday and North Dakota State Saturday in straight sets.
Thursday’s game was at home in Hamilton Gymnasium and the Crimson and Gold displayed their defensive game effectively for the home crowd. DU finished with 12 blocks in the contest which was led by graduate middle blocker Cadi Boyer’s six. Boyer also contributed three aces to the team’s seven in the contest. Boyer, graduate outside hitter Cassie Davis and graduate opposite hitter Mackenzie Fidelak each had nine kills in the contest which led DU to a 3-0 set sweep over the Fighting Hawks.
The team had another home game on Saturday against NDSU and fought a tougher, closer contest. Each set was won by the Crimson and Gold by only a margin of two, a much bigger difference from Thursday’s contest. Boyer led the way offensively again with 11 kills and an ace. Sophomore outside hitter Ava Reynolds was not far behind with 10 kills of her own and Davis finished with nine.
Denver will be traveling to South Dakota this week to take on two Summit League opponents. They will face South Dakota State on Thursday at 6 p.m. and South Dakota on Saturday at 11 a.m. Both games are available to stream on the Summit League Network.
Men’s Soccer
The No. 19/17 Denver men’s soccer continued their strong season with a draw and a win in their two-road-game slate this past week.
The team was in Seattle, Washington on Monday night taking on Seattle University in an out-of-conference contest and tied the Redhawks 2-2.
The top offensive players for DU so far this season combined for an unreal equalizer at the 89-minute mark to force the draw. Junior midfielder Sam Bassett delivered a long-distance pinpoint ball into the box, and team-leading goal scorer junior forward Oje Ofunrein finished a crushing head into the back of the net.
Redshirt freshman Bryce Willoughby scored his first career goal at the 37-minute mark to tie the game up at one. Bassett crossed a free kick into the box; Willoughby scooped up his own rebound with a header and got the ball past the Redhawks goalkeeper.
DU then traveled to St. Paul, Minnesota on Saturday morning and Basset recorded his second brace of the season to lift the Crimson and Gold over St. Thomas 2-0.
Bassett hammered a header into the back of the goal from a cross from sophomore defender Dylan Akau at the 62-minute mark. Bassett then scored his second and secured the brace at the 89-minute mark, and Ofunrein recorded his second assist of the season.
DU men’s soccer travels to Pennsylvania to take on Pittsburgh University on Monday then comes back home to take on Oral Roberts on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Women’s Soccer
Denver women’s soccer kicked off Summit League play with a 1-0 win against Oral Roberts Saturday night.
Junior midfielder Riley Baker scored the game-winner at the 16-minute mark in the contest. Baker received a nice cross from sophomore midfielder Lily O’Grady and headed the ball into the left side of the goal.
Freshman goalkeeper Molly Wissman earned her fourth shutout of the season and was only called to make one save in the contest. DU’s one SOG allowed was a season-low.
Summit League action continues for DU this week as they travel to Minnesota on Thursday to take on St. Thomas and Nebraska on Sunday to take on Omaha.
Men’s Golf
First-year Denver Head Coach Gary Bissell took his new squad to San Francisco this past week to take part in their first fall tournament of the season. DU competed in the Howard USF/Intercollegiate on Monday and Tuesday, finishing 11th out of 13 fielding teams.
Freshman Jet Hernandez had an impressive performance for the Crimson and Gold and recorded a nine under par, tying for third in his first collegiate tournament. Hernandez was the only DU golfer with a total score under par. Freshman Zander Grant had the second-best finish for the Crimson and Gold registering a five over par which put him in a tie for 45th place.
Denver’s next fall tournament is next week, and the team will only have to travel 35 minutes north to Erie to take part in the Mark Simpson Invitational hosted by the University of Colorado.
Women’s Golf
The women’s golf squad was in Franklin, Tennessee taking part in the Mason Rudolph Championship this past weekend. DU finished 13th out of 18 teams with Auburn University taking home the top spot.
Junior Clara Gestsdottir climbed nine spots in the third round after she recorded a two-under-par round to finish in a tie for 20th place. Graduate student Anna Zanusso also climbed up the leaderboard six spots during the final round and finished tied for 23rd place.
The squad will host their next tournament at the DU Golf Club in Highlands Ranch. Action at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate starts on Oct. 6 and will end on Oct. 8.
Men’s Tennis
The men’s tennis squad split into two groups and each group traveled to two different tournaments this past weekend, the Bedford Cup in Colorado Springs and the Milwaukee Tennis Classic in Milwaukee.
At the Bedford Cup, junior transfer from the University of Washington Rikuto Yamaguchi won the C Draw on the singles side of the tournament. Yamaguchi bounced back after a first-round set loss and won the second and third sets to become the only DU player to be taking home a title this weekend.
Graduate student Anish Sriniketh was set to compete in the third-place game on Sunday but did not play due to his opponent withdrawing from the match. Sriniketh was crowned a podium finish in the A Draw of the singles side.
At the Milwaukee Tennis Classic, junior Daniel Sancho Arbizu had an outstanding showing on the singles side. Sancho Arbizu upset the No. 36 and No. 110 ranked singles players in the country en route to the finals. He then fell to the No.75 junior-ranked player in the country in the finals but in a hard-fought fashion.
Denver’s next team tournament is back in Colorado Springs at the ITA Mountain Regional Championships, with action starting on Thursday. Senior Nicolas Herrero Cuesta will be traveling to Oklahoma on Saturday to participate in the ITA All-American Championships as a single.
