Dominique Davis
The Paw Print
The Grizzlies were at it again this week, but this time for their post season. The RMAC tournament began on Tuesday night where the Grizzlies hosted the first round in Plachy Hall.
This was the second consecutive year hosting the quarterfinals of the tournament. The Grizzlies were the 3rd seed on Tuesday night. The Grizzlies finished the regular season with an RMAC best 23-4 overall record and 16-3 in the RMAC to win the West Division title. They went into Tuesday night’s game after beating Western New Mexico in five sets last week. The Grizzlies were more than ready to step out onto that court again and take on the UCCS Mountain Lions for the second time this season. Having their home court advantage was definitely a plus on Tuesday night. It put the Grizzlies in a great position to continue to succeed in post season play.
On Tuesday night, the Grizzlies went up against the UCCS Mountain Lions again, for the second time this season. The Mountain Lions were seeded sixth. The Grizzlies battled it out with the Mountain Lions here in Plachy Hall in an intense 25-22, 25-11, 25-27, 26-24 four set victory. This win was the Grizzlies 11th straight win, the first time since 1992. UCCS has not won in Plachy Hall since 2005. Junior Deprece Washington (Johnstown, Colo.), led the Grizzlies on Tuesday night with 11 kills and 6 blocks. Senior Dominique Davis (Denver, Colo.) had 10 kills and 13 digs. Senior Valerie Garcia (Colorado Springs, Colo.) had 15 digs and freshman Katherine Rifilato (Bayfield, Colo.) tallied 10 digs. Junior setter, and RMAC setter of the year (Gabriella Rifilato), finished the night with 42 assists and six digs.
After beating the UCCS Mountain Lions on Tuesday night, the Grizzlies advanced to the semi finals for the fourth time in the past six years. Friday night, in Denver, the Grizzlies took on the Regis University Rangers for the second time this season. The last time that the teams played each other was here in Plachy Hall where the Rangers defeated the Grizzlies in a close five set game. Going into Friday night, the Rangers were ranked 14th and the Grizzlies were 21st. Even though the Grizzlies were up 2 sets on Friday, the Rangers found a way back in it and ended up with a 25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 24-26, 12-15 victory over ASU for the second time this year. The Rangers snapped the Grizzlies 11 match win streak in the Colorado School of Mines’ Lockridge Arena. Junior Deprece Washington had a career high 21 kills on Friday night. The Grizzlies now have a record of 24-5 on the year. Megan Tapia (Pueblo, Colo.) had 14 kills and a .344 hitting percentage. Senior Dominique Davis tallied 18 kills and nine digs. Setter Gabriella Rifilato had 56 assists and nine digs while senior libero Valerie Garcia had a team high 21 digs.
All five of the Grizzlies losses this season were in five sets.
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