GUNNISON, Colo.  Western Colorado halved its deficit with a third-set victory Friday evening, but the visiting ThunderWolves from Colorado State University Pueblo responded in the next set to finish off a 3-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference volleyball win at Paul Wright Gym.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: CSU Pueblo def. Western, 3-1 (25-16, 25-19, 22-25, 25-13)
Records: Western 5-18 overall (2-9 RMAC), CSU Pueblo 12-11 (9-2)
Location: Paul Wright Gym, Gunnison, Colo.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Mountaineers inched closer in each of the first two sets and finally broke through in the third, trailing only once, at 1-0, on the way to a three-point set victory.
• Maggie Olson and Olive Rolseth led Western's efforts attack during that win, each knocking down four kills. Olson also added all three of the Mountaineers' service aces in the set.
• The set almost got away from them, though, as the Pack tried to rally back from an 18-13 deficit, eventually tying the score at 18-18 before one of Olson's kills halted the run. An attacker error on CSUP provided another point, and Kennedy Kelly made it three in a row with one of her three kills in the set.
• The fourth set looked as if Western's momentum would continue as it opened up an early 3-1 advantage, but a 5-0 CSUP spurt followed soon after by a 9-1 run put the Mountaineers in a hole from which they weren't able to climb.

NET NOTES

• Olson led the Mountaineers with 14 kills, while Kelly and Seyun Park chimed in with eight each. The Pack's Sadie Scoville ended with a match-high 15 kills, and they got 12 more from Kendall Harrington.
• Western collected seven service aces on the night – Olson with three, Nur Turkmenoglu with three, and Addison Lynn with one – but Pueblo notched 11 aces to erase much of the Mountaineers' efficiency behind the end line.
• Attacking percentages were telling figures across the night. In Western's set win it hit at a .355 rate while limiting CSUP to a .265 success rate. But the ThunderWolves hit .370 in the first, .435 in the second and .419 in the third, while the Mountaineers were at .216 or lower in those same three sets.

UP NEXT

• The Mountaineers play their final home game of the season Saturday night, entertaining Adams State University for an RMAC match beginning at 6 p.m.
• It will be 80s Night at Paul Wright for the match between Western and the Grizzlies, and will also be Senior Night for the Mountaineers who will honor their lone senior, Elizabeth Rupprecht, in a pre-match ceremony.