Using two three-game wins last weekend the University of Denver women’s volleyball team extended their longest winning streak of the season to seven games. Last Friday night, the team rolled to two easy game wins and then hung on in the third game to close out the three-game sweep of North Texas. Coach Beth Kuwata stated that “the best part of our match tonight was the way that we were able to control the ball during the second game.” On Saturday, the Pioneers played two tough games in order to close out Arkansas State and to make their third sweep in a row of The Sun Belt conference competition. The two sweeps this weekend allowed the team to improve their record to 4-0 in the Sun Belt and 10-5 overall.The current seven game streak could have included two more games against Louisiana schools in the Sun Belt conference. Coach Kuwata indicated that the biggest reason for the team’s recent success was “having players step up and play more consistently, and it is also important that we are not giving up long series of points.” These two reasons are fueled by a surge from the freshman class. Two freshmen currently start for the Denver Pioneers, Holly Benson and Kerry Porter. Porter has described the opportunity to play and to start as “a great way to stay balanced and focused. It is easier for me to perform when I am busy and it is a nice surprise to start.” The other starting freshman, Benson, agrees that dealing with everything a freshman normally deals with plus volleyball is not that hard. She expressed that “it is easy to deal with everything because I have always had to deal with it throughout high school as well.” With the infusion of the youth on the team, the women Pioneers seem to be coming together as a team and are able to strengthen each other’s weaknesses.