Thursday, November 5

Denver 3, New Orleans 1
DENVER, Colo. - Paced by senior Emmy Davidsmeyer's (Colorado Springs, Colo.) 22 kills, the University of Denver volleyball team (14-14, 9-5 SBC) downed visiting New Orleans (15-11, 8-6 SBC) 3-1 on Thursday evening in Hamilton Gymnasium. The win puts the Pioneers on top of the Sun Belt Conference West Division standings with four matches remaining.

"It was a great team effort tonight," said head coach Beth Kuwata. "Our hitters really stepped up tonight and made the necessary plays that helped us pull out a great win. We were limited with our number of substitutions so it was critical that we play well and keep our errors to a minimum, which I think is something that we did tonight."

To go along with Davidsmeyer's 22 kills, senior Alexis Ninos (Cypress, Texas) added 13 kills, while freshman Faimie Kingsley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) finished with 12 kills and a .450 hitting percentage. Returning to the setter position, junior Kresson Vreeman (Raymond, Minn.) finished the night with 47 assists, four kills, eight digs and two blocks.

Defensively, libero Kacie Wikierak (Crystal Lake, Ill.) turned in an impressive 22-dig effort, while Ninos added 11.

Lindsey Loyd led the Privateers with 18 kills, while Maria Szivos finished with 12. Splitting the setter duties, Cassidy Asebroek tallied 35 assists, while Hajnalka Molnar added 17.

Denver remains at home for the rest of the weekend, hosting Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Louisiana-Monroe on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Hamilton Gymnasium.

Prior to the start of their match against the Ragin Cajuns on Saturday, the Pioneers will honor its three seniors, Davidsmeyer, Clare Maxwell (Western Springs, Ill.) and Ninos with a pre-match ceremony. Denver will then hold its final Kuwata's Krew Clinic on Sunday, immediately following its match against the Warhawks.

Tuesday, November 3

UAB 3, Troy 1
TROY - The Trojans made things interesting with a third set rally, but they eventually fell to in-state rival UAB 3-1 (25-17, 25-21, 26-28, 25-25) on Tuesday night at Trojan Arena.

"We have two days to prepare for South Alabama," head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said. "We've got a long way to go to give ourselves a chance to win."

The Trojans (11-15) were led on the night by senior Meghan Gilroy who posted 22 kills and just three errors.  She was also a large part of the Trojans defense, posting seven total blocks.  Those blocks give Gilroy 250 total blocks in her career, the most ever by a Trojan.

Devin Von Pingel was also a valuable part of the Trojan offense as she recorded 10 kills and a .381 attack percentage.  Megan Henderson set up the Trojan attack with 45 assists.

Defensively, three Trojans posted double digits in digs.  Those include Emily Strader (16), Kayla Giles (11) and Laura Mackley (11).

The Trojans jumped out to an early lead in the first set, winning five to six to go ahead 5-1.  The Blazers (14-14) eventually tied things up at 9-9.  The Trojans were within two at 16-14 before UAB took four straight to go ahead by six at 20-14.  The Blazers maintained that the lead the rest of the way through as they took the first set, 25-17.

The second set was close early with the two sides finding themselves tied at 8-8.  At that time the Blazers took six of eight to go ahead 14-10.  UAB extended their lead to as much as six at 20-14, and they eventually took the second set, 25-21.

The Trojans came out firing on all cylinders after the break as they took an early 9-3 lead in the third set.  They extended that lead to eight as late as 19-11, but UAB didn't go away.  The Blazers used a five point run to get within three at 19-16, and they eventually tied things up at 24-24.  The Blazers actually had a match point in front of them when they led 26-25, but the Trojans scored three straight to win the third set, 28-26, and extend the match to a fourth set.

In that fourth set, the Blazers took control of the match once again. The two sides were tied at 3-3 when UAB scored three straight to go ahead 6-3. After that point, the Trojans couldn't manage to score two consecutive points until the score was already 21-12.  The Blazers eventually took the fourth set, 25-15, and the match, 3-1.

"We'll go hard in the next two days," Kirkpatrick said. "Hopefully we can find some of the confidence that we had earlier in the year."

The Trojans will return to Sun Belt action of Friday when they travel to take on South Alabama.  The Trojans currently sit half a game out of the eighth and final spot in the Sun Belt Tournament with three matches remaining.  First serve between the Trojans and Jaguars is scheduled for 7 p.m.