@UNCBearsVB takes a step forward against UT-Arlington

Friday, September 8

Albuquerque, N.M.

10:00 am

University of Northern Colorado

2-5

University of Portland

6-1

Portland

Photo by: Denver Broncos

9/8/2017 9:03:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

After losing to Portland in the morning, the Bears rebound against the Mavericks

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – After a tough loss against Portland in the first match of a double-header, Northern Colorado rallied to win the second against UT-Arlington.

Pilots top Bears

The first match of the Lobo Classic ended with a loss for Northern Colorado volleyball. The Bears fell to Portland University (6-1) in four sets, [16-25, 25-23, 21-25, 20-25].
Northern Colorado (2-5) was unable to generate enough offense to counter Portland's attacking capabilities. The Pilots produced 61 kills on 139 total attempts and had 57 assists on the match. UNC's offense scored 38 kills on 129 total attempts with 35 assists.

In the first set, Northern Colorado and Portland exchanged points with the Pilots holding the early lead over the Bears at 8-7. UNC got kills from Alex Kloehn, Kortney Lockey, and Emily O'Neil. Portland began to pull away after the Bears committed a number of attack errors that they could not recover from. Pilots middle blocker Katie Barker powered the team at the net and helped create the separation with a 15-10 lead. Portland took the first set 25-16 and put Northern Colorado in a 1-0 hole.

The Bears offense battled in the second set and Kloehn elevated her game with five kills. Kim Weissmann was critical for UNC with four kills, showing the offensive versatility of the team. After multiple ties, UNC was able to build a lead at 20-17 that gave them enough room to earn the set victory 25-23 and tie the match a 1-1. The second set would see 12 ties and seven lead changes for an entertaining set. Daisy Schultz entered the match in the second, recording 12 assists to help the flow of the offense.

Northern Colorado and Portland continued to play a close match in the third set. The Pilots briefly extend the lead at 11-7, but the Bears tied it back up at 13 with a service ace from Alyssa Chisholm. Portland took the lead multiple times only to be tied back up with UNC. With Portland leading 22-20, Sarah Savoca delivered three kills that gave the Pilots the 25-21 set win over the Bears and a 2-1 lead in the match.

Portland came out confident in the fourth set and hit the Bears with a quick 6-0 run. The Pilots extended the lead to 10-2, putting UNC in a desperate situation. The offense for Portland continued to be aggressive and seemed to put the Bears away after establishing a 20-8 lead over the team. Although Portland would win the set, Northern Colorado mounted a furious comeback that pulled the team within four points at 24-20, but Portland ended the comeback with a point right after. O'Neil would power the comeback with three kills and a block. She finished the match with eight blocks on the day.
Northern Colorado hit .116 for the match, while Portland posted a .266 percentage.

Difference Maker
Portland's starting offense was aggressive and effective in the match. Five Pilots were in double-digit kills including Baker and Savoca, along with Reghan Pukis, Liz Reich, and Hannah Troutman. Cali Thompson ran the offense with 51 assists. Kloehn recorded 10 kills and O'Neil ended up with eight. Weissmann added seven, but it was not enough to match Portland's output.

Memorable Match
Although its early in her career, Daisy Schultz had a career game with 23 assists and four kills that were both new career highs for her. Schultz hit .500 with eight total attempts and no errors. She also posted a career high six digs.

Northern Colorado takes control against Mavericks
The Bears (3-5) picked up an impressive win against UT-Arlington in four sets [23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-18].

The day looked to be getting worse for UNC after the first set against UT-Arlington. The Mavericks picked up a 25-23 set win to give them a 1-0 advantage. The first set was a tight contest, with neither team building more then a three point lead. The Mavericks were able to hold a 23-20 lead late in the contest on four kills from outside hitter Qiana Canete. UNC got close to pulling the comeback after the lead shrunk to 24-23 for UT-Arlington. The comeback fell short for the Bears and the team lost 25-23. Although down 1-0, Kortney Lockey and Kim Weissman were establishing themselves and playing efficiently on the attack.

The two pin-hitters play carried over into the second set and the Bears would find themselves in another back-and-forth contest with UTA. Along with Lockey and Weissmann, Alex Kloehn and Emily O'Neil added to the offensive and the four veterans powered UNC to a 25-20 victory. The Bears hit .300 in the set, opposed to the Mavericks who only managed a .107 attack percentage.

With the match tied at one, the two teams were not done exchanging hits. After UT-Arlington started the set on a 4-0 run, UNC responded quickly with its own 4-0 run to tie the set. It was early in the match, but the response from the Bears prove to be pivotal. The teams remained close until UT-Arlington seemed to separate from Northern Colorado with a 18-15 lead on kills from Canete and Zhanelle Geathers. Kloehn delivered for the Bears with two huge kills and they tied the set at 18 after an error by Geathers. The Mavericks briefly retook the lead at 20-19, but it disappeared after Ryleigh Haynes dropped in one of her seven kills to tie the score. UNC went ahead for good after Weissmann slammed in a pair of kills and recorded a block assist with O'Neil. The 25-23 set win put Northern Colorado up 2-1 and in control of the match.

UNC showed it control in the third set and separated themselves from UT-Arlington on kills from Lockey, Haynes and Kloehn. The veteran experience on UNC's roster was apparent in the third set as they stepped up and helped the team earn a solid 25-18 victory. Northern Colorado won the match 3-1 after hitting .419 in the third. The team finished the match with a .250 attack percentage and held UT-Arlington to .150.

Player spotlight
Three Bears had double-digit kills in the match with Kortney Lockey's 17, Kim Weissmann's 13, and Alex Kloehn adding 10. The offense's flow was stabilized by Ryleigh Haynes who tallied 42 assists and tied a career-high with seven kills. Kayla Uyemura also tied her own career-high with three service aces. The defense was solid for UNC and the Bears continued to improve on blocking, getting five from Emily O'Neil and four from Alex Kloehn.

Day and Night differences according to Coach
"We took a big step forward tonight after a tough loss this morning. We were more well rounded and efficient tonight," said head coach Lyndsey Oates. We were high kill from Kim and Kortney and we weren't able to get that earlier today. I thought our two veterans stepped up and had a good comeback match. We switched setters this morning and we went back to [Ryleigh] tonight. She managed the match well. Alex and Emily continued to be efficient. Emily was good this morning and Alex was almost unstoppable tonight. We took a big step "

Closing the weekend
Northern Colorado finishes its weekend at the Lobo Classic on Saturday when they take on the host New Mexico at 2 pm MDT.