Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Pittsburg, Kan.  The Western Colorado Women's Volleyball team fell short in their matches on day 2 of the Gorilla Classic by scores of 3-1 and 3-0.

The Mountaineers got an early advantage over Arkansas Tech going up 5-1. After a few kills and errors, WCU got a 7-2 edge then pulled away to a 9-3 lead. Western sustained their lead seeing the score at 21-14. The Bulldogs capitalized on errors and hit kill after kill eventually tying the game at 23 a-piece. ATU grasped their first lead of the day 24-23, then brought it home, winning set one 27-25.

Arkansas Tech kept their energy high taking an early 8-1 lead in the second. Kills by junior Pelin Aksoy, junior Olive Rolseth and senior Kennedy Kelly cut the deficit to five points 9-4. WCU earned a few points, but ATU went off, going up 21-9. The Mountaineers persevered and kept hitting the ball in the right spot, scoring twelve points compared to the Bulldogs' one to put the score at 22-21 ATU advantage. Western was awarded another point, but Arkansas took set two 25-22.

Another neck and neck set, WCU was first on the board, but five consecutive points put ATU up 5-1. Points were traded back and forth until the Mountaineers took the lead 15-12 and never looked back. Strong hits by Aksoy, Kennedy, Rolseth and junior Maggie Olson with assists from senior Nur Turkmenoglu allowed WCU to take the third set 25-20.

A service ace by Turkmenoglu kicked off set four. A kill by Olson and a block by sophomore Kyra Kidd and Olson gave WCU a 3-0 edge. Another competitive match kept things close. Points were traded one after the other, seeing a tie at 15-15. ATU gained a slight lead 23-19 but WCU kept fighting to make it 24-24. Points went back-and-forth, each team fighting to take the set. With the score seeing 29-29, the Bulldogs had the serve. Scoring two consecutive points ATU took the set and game one.

Olson led with 14 kills, followed by Kennedy with 12, Rolseth with 10 and Aksoy with nine. Turkmenoglu finished with 43 assists and sophomore Chinaru Inoue had 16 digs.

WCU took on the host of the tournament, the Pittsburg State University Gorillas, in game two. A close set one, PSU had the lead until WCU had a 13-11 advantage. The Mountaineers were neck and neck with the Gorillas, but a dominant attack allowed PSU to take set one 25-21.

Set two saw good action on both sides of the ball for Western but Pittsburg controlled the game, striking kill after kill, winning set the set 25-14. The third and final set was closer in score and the Mountaineers never gave up, but did come up short 25-18.

Askoy finished on top with 11 kills. Senior Seyun Park was next with six. Turkmenoglu ended with 24 assists while Inque finished with 24 digs.

With the conclusion of today's games, the team's overall records stand at: Western Colorado 0-4, Arkansas Tech 1-2, and 2-1. The Moutnaineers are back in action on Tuesday September 10 at 5pm as they host Angelo State University for their home opener. For more information visit gomountaineers.com.