Photo: The Pioneers battle San Diego State in the finale of the Denver Invitational Tournament.  

DU volleyball had a solid weekend, winning two of three matches at the Denver Invitational. DU defeated Gonzaga (3-0) and UC Riverside (3-0) but fell in the Saturday nightcap 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 20-25, 26-28) after battling back in the final game of the match but fell short (26-28). The Pioneers are now 9-3. Becca Latham and Kayla Principato were named to the All-Tournament Team.

The Pioneers dedicated their final match to Giorgia Longo (RS/S) from Italy who was scheduled to join the University of Denver squad next season. She tragically passed away in a traffic accident earlier in the week but the coaches and many of the current players knew Longo from summer volleyball camps in the US. The Denver players wore ribbons in Longo’s honor and surely were exhausted at the end of an emotional weekend.

After a great start to the season, the team will get a much-needed break before the conference portion of their schedule begins with a home match against Fort Wayne at 1:00 on Sunday, September 24th.