Chris Day
ASC Sports Information
Outside hitter Alea Wildman put down 20 kills while hitting .341 as the Colorado State University-Pueblo ThunderWolves bested the visiting Adams State College Grizzlies for the first time in four years, Thursday night in five sets here in the Massari Arena.
The ThunderWolves, who also got a solid 58-assist, 10-dig double-double effort from setter Tasha Greer and a match-high 27 digs from libero Ashley Michel, improved to 9-15 overall and to 4-12 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play while the Grizzlies, playing without NCAA Division II era (1992-Present) career assists record holder Mary McNeil due to injury, dropped to 8-15 and to 5-10 in RMAC play while all but mathematically being eliminated from RMAC Tournament contention.
The ThunderWolves hit at a .350 clip or better in each of the three sets that they won and hit .252 overall.
The Grizzlies hit just .150 throughout the night dropping the first and second sets by 25-18 and 25-16 scores, respectively, before holding on for dear life with a 26-24 third set win. They then evened the match with a 25-18 victory in the fourth but dropped the fifth set 15-12 falling 3 ½ matches behind Colorado Christian, Fort Lewis and Western New Mexico, who all enter the penultimate weekend of conference play with 8-6 RMAC records.
Senior setter Mary McNeil, back in the starting lineup after missing Thursday night’s match, and sophomore outside hitter Dominique Davis each recorded double-doubles but were not enough to overcome 24 unforced and 36 overall hitting errors as the Adams State College Grizzly volleyball team hit just .037 while dropping a 4-set match at arch-rival Western State, Saturday night here in the Paul W. Wright Gymnasium.
McNeil, who now has seven double-doubles this season and 23 in her career, tallied 38 assists and 15 digs while Davis had 11 kills and a team and career-high 19 digs recording her seventh double-double of the campaign. However, she also had 15 hitting errors as the Mountaineers improved to 10-13 overall and to 5-11 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play while completing the season series sweep over the Grizzlies for the first time since 2006. The Grizzlies also had a solid effort from freshman middle hitter Megan Tapia, who tallied 10 kills, five blocks and a .320 hitting percentage.
The Grizzlies had officially knocked the Mountaineers out of the RMAC Tournament in each of the last two seasons but saw that favor returned Saturday.
The Grizzlies’ .037 hitting percentage was their second lowest of the season and truly aided the Mountaineers, who only hit .168 in the victory.
ASC was guilty of nine hitting errors in the first set alone and was guilty of nine more in the second set, which went the Mountaineers’ way, thanks in large part to a 3-point run that gave the home team a 20-17 lead on a Grizzly rotation error.
ASC heads into the final weekend of the regular season to host Mesa State (17-8, 11-5 RMAC) and third-place Fort Lewis (15-9, 9-7 RMAC) next Friday and Saturday, respectively.
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