Grizzlies pick up first road RMAC win
LAKEWOOD, Colo.— Alamosa natives Tiffany Stockebrand and Emily Bussey combined for 31 kills while each recorded a double-double as the Adams State College Grizzlies picked up their first road victory of the season on Friday, posting a 30-23, 30-27, 28-30, 30-28 victory over Colorado Christian University at the Cougar Events Center. The 4-game win allowed the Grizzlies to improve to 5-10 overall and 2-6 in conference play while the Cougars slipped to 1-15 overall and 0-7 in the loop.
Stockebrand had a match-high 18 kills to go along with her 12 digs and a .208 attack percentage while Bussey chipped in 13 kills and 15 digs. The Grizzlies also matched a season-high by serving 13 aces, four of which came from senior libero Jocelyn Garcia (Albuquerque, N.M.), who also led the Grizzlies with 23 digs.
The Grizzlies also recorded 12 blocks throughout the night to overcome a somewhat sluggish .097 attack percentage. Senior middle blocker Kallee Bingham (Mesa, Ariz.) and sophomore Leah Hill (Fort Collins, Colo.), playing on the right side, each had six blocks. Hill’s figure was a season high.
Freshman setter Tagen Bierley (Colorado Springs, Colo.) added 41 assists and 10 digs to record her fourth double-double of the season.
The Cougars received 14 Becky Mogle kills and another 12 from Trisha Witkop. Tina Nance added 11 kills and 23 digs but committed 12 attacking errors. Chelsea DeBerry and Chauntele Jones also added 18 and 16 digs, respectively, in the 1-hour, 54-minute match that ASC had difficulty closing out.
ASC came out firing and hit a solid .211 in the first game. Stockebrand and Bussey combined for nine of ASC’s 15 kills in that set while the Cougars made nine hitting miscues while hitting just .049 in the set.
The Grizzlies never trailed in game two but let a 23-16 lead diminish to just one at 27-26 after a hitting error. However, Stockebrand answered right back with her ninth kill before a Grizzly service error returned the favor.
DeBerry then committed one of her nine hitting errors before Megan Jennings and Hill teamed to block Meredith Hawryluk as the Grizzlies went into the intermission up 2-0 with the 3-point set win.
The teams battled to a 14-14 tie in the third set before a DeBerry attacking error and a Stockebrand kill started a 5-0 Grizzly run that included back-to-back Garcia aces.
Down 19-14, the Cougars would came back to tie the set at 20 thanks to a pair of Witkop kills surrounding a bad set. They continued on what turned into a 12-3 run before holding off a pair of late Grizzly charges as Mogle ended the set with her 10th kill of the night.
Looking to avoid a fifth game, the Grizzlies would build a 16-10 lead in the fourth game before the Cougars pulled to within one thanks to a 6-1 run behind Hawryluk’s serve. The Grizzlies built that lead back to five thanks to a Jennings service run and a couple of blocks before the Cougars put up one more fight to tie the set at 27.
However, Bussey answered with a kill triggering a 3-1 match-ending run that she ended with a tip-kill into the open middle of the Cougar defense.
ASC was 0-6 in road matches prior to Friday.
The Grizzlies have now claimed victory in the last five meetings between the teams.
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