Hitting errors costly in 4-set loss at WSC

Grizzlies officially eliminated from RMAC Tourney competition

GUNNISON, Colo.- Senior setter Mary McNeil (Phoenix, Ariz.), back in the starting lineup after missing Thursday night's match, and sophomore outside hitter Dominique Davis (Denver, Colo.) 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 (Pueblo, Colo.), who tallied 10 kills, five blocks and a .320 hitting percentage.

The Grizzlies, who won just one of their nine road matches this season, were officially eliminated from RMAC Tournament contention with the 25-8, 25-23, 20-25, 25-19 loss and slipped to 8-16 overall.  They are also 5-11 in RMAC action heading into the final weekend of the regular season in which they will host RMAC West Division leading Mesa State (17-8, 11-5 RMAC) and third-place Fort Lewis (15-9, 9-7 RMAC) next Friday and Saturday, respectively.

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.

The Grizzlies were able to come back to tie the set at 21 and again at 23 before a Lindsay Huson and one of the Mountaineers' 12 blocks capped the set.

The Grizzlies then fell behind 15-12 in the third set but went on an impressive 13-5 run during the rest of the frame to keep the match alive.

However, 11 more Grizzly hitting errors in the fourth set handed the match to the Mountaineers, who were paced by Jamie Hamsa's 11 kills and 13 digs.  Libero Madison Dempsey had a match-high 29 digs as well.

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