The #1 seed University of Denver (22-5 overall), faced a pesky Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (15-13 overall, 11-3 Summit League) squad but used their power game to push past the #2 seed visitors, 3 – 1 (25-14, 23-25, 25-19, 25-16). Emma Willis had 15 kills, Ellie Anderson 25 assists, Tina Boe had 6 blocks, and Piyushu Boteju had 11 digs. To top off the team effort, Kayla Principato was named the MVP of the Summit League Tournament. Principato had 12 kills and 27 total attempts/attacks. ORU was paced by senior Laura Milos with 25 kills and a whopping 51 total attempts/attacks.
Denver split the first two games but took control of the final two games to keep the title in Denver. And the Pioneers, who won this year’s regular season title, will host next year’s tournament.
DU’s depth and power was on display the entire match. Every time the Golden Eagles put together a run, the Pioneers stopped it with blocks and kills to stymie any hope of a comeback. In addition to Principato, Becca Latham and Emma Willis were named to the Summit League All-Tournament team. The tournament win extends the Pioneers hold on the Summit League title to 4 straight years – an amazing accomplishment.
The NCAA selection show will be held at 7 pm on November 26th with the first-round NCAA match scheduled for November 30th.
Congrats to the Pios. Four straight Summit League titles is a special achievement, showing how consistently well prepared and how well the Pios execute in this league. No matter who the Summit sends against the Pios in crunch time, the Pios swat them down. I think its safe to say that DU owns the Summit, which is kind of like being the tallest pygmy in the world of NCAA volleyball, where a 20+ win season get you an RPI of #60.
Now comes the almost impossible part of the season for Denver. DU has been to three straight NCAA tourneys now as the Summit Champs, and this will be the fourth straight NCAA appearance.
NCAA Appearance 1 in 2014: DU lost at Colorado St. in three straight.
NCAA Appearance 2 in 2015: DU lost at Washington in three straight.
NCAA Appearance 3 in 2016: DU lost at Stanford in three straight.
Bottom line – DU has never won a set in NCAA play, let alone a match.
Let’s hope this is the year DU can break the NCAA shutout streak. No one expects them to upset a higher-ranked NCAA foe, but if they could just win a set, it would be big progress in my eyes…
Congrats to the Pios. Four straight Summit League titles is a special achievement, showing how consistently well prepared and how well the Pios execute in this league. No matter who the Summit sends against the Pios in crunch time, the Pios swat them down. I think its safe to say that DU owns the Summit, which is kind of like being the tallest pygmy in the world of NCAA volleyball, where a 20+ win season get you an RPI of #60.
Now comes the almost impossible part of the season for Denver. DU has been to three straight NCAA tourneys now as the Summit Champs, and this will be the fourth straight NCAA appearance.
NCAA Appearance 1 in 2014: DU lost at Colorado St. in three straight.
NCAA Appearance 2 in 2015: DU lost at Washington in three straight.
NCAA Appearance 3 in 2016: DU lost at Stanford in three straight.
Bottom line – DU has never won a set in NCAA play, let alone a match.
Let’s hope this is the year DU can break the NCAA shutout streak. No one expects them to upset a higher-ranked NCAA foe, but if they could just win a set, it would be big progress in my eyes…