Balanced Offense Leads @UNCBearsVB Over Weber State

Saturday, October 10

Greeley, Colo.

2:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

7-12, 3-3Big Sky

Weber State

5-12, 1-5Big Sky

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Weber State	20	23	23	0
Northern Colorado	25	25	25	3

10/10/2015 5:35:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Northern Colorado's balanced offensive attack helped push the Bears past Weber State

By: Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado volleyball closed out it's weekend with a sweep of Weber State Saturday afternoon inside Bank of Colorado Arena, 25-20, 25-23, 25-23. With the win UNC inporves to 7-12 on the year and brings their record to 3-3 through three weeks of Big Sky play.

UNC used a balanced attack and some timely blocks to get past the Wildcats (5-12, 1-5 Big Sky). The Bears out hit WSU .218-.176, and had four different players record at least five kills.

"I thought it was a good match for us we were able to try things in different situations that will help us down the road," head coach Lyndsey Oates said. "We tried some blocking and serving subs, and we executed well when we made those subs, taking a big step forward for us."

The Bears exploited a match-up they liked using their middle blockers Alex Kloehn and Emily O'Neil. Kloehn led the team in kills with 13 kills, while O'Neil added in five of her own. The two added in three total blocks each as well.

"The highlight of the match for us was Alex leading us in kills, allowing us to get going more offensively," Oates said. "Unlike on Thursday night when we became so reliant on the pins, getting the middle of the floor to open up was a big help."

On the pins, UNC was led by Eaton natives Kendra Cunningham and Kortney Lockey.
Cunningham had nine kills and Lockey had eight while hitting .500 for the match. She also added in three total blocks of her own, with two coming in a three point stretch during the second set.

"In the scouting report we had looked, and their (Weber's) middles are trained to be big on the pins and would be slower in the middle," Cunningham said. "We knew Alex could getting going with her open shots, which helped get us on the outside and opened up shots for us."

Northern Colorado controlled the first two sets of the match, never giving up the lead and only being tied with the Wildcats once over them.
The third set was more competitive than the first two featuring eight ties and five lead changes.

The two teams were all square at 12, in the third set when the Bears went on a decisive 3-0 to take the lead for good and the match.

The Bears return to action next week with a home-away split, traveling to Sacramento State on October 15, before coming home to face North Dakota on October 17 as a part of a homecoming double header with football who plays at 1:05 p.m. against UC Davis.

"When we go to Sacramento State they will be a very different team than what we saw this week," said Oates about the upcoming matches. "Both matches against Sacramento State and North Dakota will be tough matches for us."