Denver, CO—The UC Riverside Volleyball Team (8-3) was swept in three straight sets by the Denver Pioneers in their first match Saturday afternoon at the Denver Invitational.

SET ONE (25-20, Denver)
Key Runs: The Highlanders started strong leading 5-2 at the beginning of the set. Denver managed to come back and take the lead at 11-10. Although UCR tied Denver 3 times and remained close, Denver took the first set.

SET TWO (25-16, Denver)
Key Runs: The Pioneers won 9 of the first 10 points of the second set and after the first point never trailed again. Mickayla Sherman and Fabiana Rosas closed the gap with 5 and 3 kills, respectively, but the 8 errors made by the Highlanders in the second set alone made it difficult to keep Denver from winning set two.

SET THREE (25-12, Denver)
Key Runs: In the third set, Denver continued strong with two aces by Nicole Rodriguez and benefited from  7 errors by the Highlanders. The deficit was too much to overcome leading Denver to a third set win.

GAME NOTES
Nicole Rodriguez served the only 2 aces UCR made in the match, close behind her current season high of 3 aces achieved last match against SDSU on September 15, 2017.
 
Mickayla Sherman led the Highlanders with 8 kills while Brooke Callahan followed close behind with 7.