Box Score Grand Junction, Colo.,  Western Colorado Volleyball kicked off conference play against Colorado Mesa.

WESTERN COLORADO VS COLORADO MESA
Colorado Mesa struck first going up 2-0. Kill by senior Kennedy Kelly started the scoring for Western Colorado. The Mavericks jumped to a 5-1 edge but three kills in a row for the Mountaineers, by Kelly, sophomore Kyra Kidd and junior Pelin Aksoy all assisted by senior Nur Turkemenoglu, made it a one-point game 5-4. Scores were traded but CMU went on a nine-point run going up 17-6. WCU fought hard, adding five more points but the Mavericks took set one 25-11.

The first few scores went back-and-forth seeing the score at 6-5 in favor of Colorado Mesa. The Mavericks offense took charge, attaching eight points to their total compared to the Mountaineers' two 14-7. Another four for CMU put them on top 20-8. Western wasn't going down without a fight, closing the score deficit to nine 22-14. CMU sealed the deal taking set two 25-15.

Turkmenoglu with a service ace and an attack error on CMU put WCU up 2-0. The Mountaineers battled, striking the ball with power, jumping to a 6-1 advantage. Each team added points by kills, attack errors and service errors until the score saw a tie 12-12. CMU won the draw going up 12-12 but WCU took back their lead 15-13. An exchange of points seeing ties at the scores of 19-19, 20-20, 21-21 and 24-24. With the last two scores, Colorado Mesa took the set 26-24 and the game 3-0.

Seniors Seyun Park and Kelly finished with seven kills, followed by Aksoy with five and Kidd with four. Lastly, junior Olive Rolseth and Turkmenoglu contributed three kills. Turkmenoglu had 24 assists and four digs. Sophomore Chinaru Inoue contributed 12 digs and two assists. Sophomore Kacee Garcia was not far behind, ending with seven digs.

UP NEXT
The Mountaineers travel to Salt Lake City, Utah to take on Westminster University in a conference match up on Saturday September 21 at 5 p.m. For more information visit gomountaineers.com.