The Denver women’s volleyball team finished an exciting weekend with two strong performances to maintain their 7-0 undefeated home record. The Crimson and Gold took down the University of St. Thomas Thursday night and the University of South Dakota Saturday afternoon.
Thursday’s match against UST saw Denver jump to a hot start, winning the first set 25-14 and the second set 25-17. UST won the next two sets 25-20 and 25-21, respectively. The fifth set was tight throughout, coming to a deuce at 14-14. Denver pulled away at the end to win 16-14.
Denver dominated St. Thomas in nearly every statistical category. Senior libero Gianna Bartalo finished with a game-high 24 digs. After the postgame, she spoke on the importance of her role as the anchor of the team.
“I’ve come to find this season that the libero is such a supporting role. I like to see behind the block and help the girls out wherever I can,” she said. “It’s a lot of fun, I get a lot of opportunities for digs, but more importantly I’m able to support the girls on the block as best as possible.”
On Saturday afternoon, Denver hosted the University of South Dakota for a hard-fought matchup. The first set was tight until the end, with South Dakota taking the win in a deuce 27-25. The second set was all Denver, never giving up the lead to win 25-13. SDU answered with a strong third set, winning 25-18. Denver won a tightly contested fourth set 28-26, going on to win the final set in a dramatic deuce, 17-15.
Graduate outside hitter Cassie Davis talked about how important the win was against USD.
“This win feels great because we lost to South Dakota at their home earlier this season,” said Davis. We’re really pumped to get this win; it was a team effort through and through that brought us the win tonight.”
Davis spent the last three seasons at Baylor before transferring to Denver this offseason. A Highlands Ranch, Colorado native, she said:“It’s great to be back home. I love getting to play in front of my family more often, as well as finding a family here with the girls on the team.”
Denver’s program brought in a wealth of talent this offseason, including Davis and first-year head coach Megan Pendergast. Pendergast has started 10-10 in her first season with Denver and believes there is still room for growth.
“We haven’t met our own expectations, but at this point, we’ve exceeded the expectations of society, of the people around us. As far as our expectations go from an internal standpoint, we’re not even close yet,” Pendergast said. “It isn’t just me, the women on this roster have really high expectations and high standards for themselves.”
Bartalo, the most tenured starter on the team, spoke about this year’s team in comparison to previous years.
“It’s always different. Every year there’s been huge changes—this year specifically with all the new transfers. But this year we have a great group of girls; we all got along great from the beginning,” she said. “You can see it on the court, how much we trust each other and rely on each other. It’s been a special season for us.”
Denver currently sits atop the Summit Conference standings with a 9-3 record. Next week they hit the road to play Oral Roberts in Oklahoma on Nov. 2, followed by a match against Kansas City in Missouri on Nov. 4.
They finish the regular season with two home games, first against Omaha on Nov. 8, followed by senior night where they welcome Oral Roberts again on Nov. 15.
