After losing their home Summit League opener in a close match to South Dakota on Thursday, the Crimson and Gold hoped to redeem themselves versus South Dakota State but fell short, losing in four sets. 

Thursday night’s game was a quick match where Denver lost in three sets. The set scores were 22-25, 22-25 and 25-21. Graduate student middle blocker Molly Mirabelli led her team in this match with a total of eight kills. The Crimson and Gold had a slightly higher kill percentage at 0.25%, while South Dakota sat at 0.244% kill percentage. 

The first set of Saturday’s game opened with a strong kill from DU. Mirabelli was one of the leading offensive players of this game, with many impressive swings that helped to close the gap in the score. A tight set with lots of back and forth ultimately ended with a loss for DU 20-25.

The Crimson and Gold came back fired up for the second set with lots of big blocks put up from junior opposite hitter Genevieve Lewis. After a tough fight, DU lost the set 18-25.

Denver came back strong during the third set and took the set by a score of 26-24. Denver started with a strong lead that SDSU closed after a couple of different challenged points. After losing the lead briefly, head coach Molly Pendergast called a timeout to reconvene with the team. The score was tied 24-24 but DU ultimately finished strong to take the set.

Set four started off strong once again as the first point went to the Crimson and Gold. It stayed a close set until the last five points, resulting in DU losing 20-25. Freshman defensive specialist Emerson Werger switched into the libero jersey which made a positive impact on the team’s play, holding down the court on the defensive side. 

Graduate student outside hitter Cassie Davis led this game with 19 total kills while Mirabelli was a close second with 11 total kills. Wegner led with a total of 12 digs throughout the game. 

The team travels to North Dakota to continue Summit League play versus North Dakota State on Oct. 3 and North Dakota on Oct. 5.