Photos & Interviews by Jason Evans

Denver volleyball (13-6, 6-1) powered by Western Illinois Sunday afternoon 25-14, 25-14 & 28-26. It was outside hitter Lydia Bartalo and Denver’s front line that proved too athletic and powerful for the Leathernecks. Bartalo had a dozen kills and Michelle Feliciano added 12 assists along with Macy Carribine’s 12 digs. The Pioneers wore pink jerseys in honor of Cancer Awareness.

Head coach Tom Hogan sees improvement on the offensive end, “I thought our offense ran well today – our setters did a great job with distribution and our serve/receivers did a great job with first contact. Overall, today was a step forward. I thought Macy Carribine did a great job quarterbacking our back row.”

Denver started slowly in the first game but pulled away in the second half. In the second set, Denver gained the advantage and overwhelmed the visitors. In the third and final set, the Leathernecks carved out a narrow advantage but the Pioneers survived three set points to finally clinch the match.

DU’s middle blocker Tina Boe told LetsGoDU, “I think we pulled together as a team and proved we could fight out a tough third set. We (still) need to clean up our game. We are improving with every match. Everybody works hard for each other.” As for the team’s upcoming second run through Summit League teams, Boe added, “There will be some tough teams. As always, we’ll be trying to win out in the second half but we are going to take it one match at a time.”

Added Hogan, “For us, it is about adding consistency  – that has been our mission this year. By the end of the season we want to be consistent on both sides of the ball – and successful.”