DENVER - DU seniors Emmy Davidsmeyer (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Alexis Ninos (Cypress, Texas) both tied career-highs with 26 and 15 kills, respectively, to power the Pioneers to a thrilling 3-2 (16-25, 24-26, 25-22, 25-16, 15-13) win over in-state rival Northern Colorado on Tuesday evening in Hamilton Gymnasium. The Pioneers (5-9) have claimed the last four wins in the all-time series with the Bears (8-6).

"It is a great win by our team tonight because we all came together and fought hard to rally back from two sets down," said head coach Beth Kuwata. "During the break, we talked about coming out and competing and not letting ourselves get taken out of our game. We played some great volleyball in the last three sets and I'm really proud of this young team."

Finishing with a .523 hitting percentage, Davidsmeyer proved why she is ranked 13th in the nation in kills per set as she matched a career-high she set previously this season against West Virginia on Sept. 5. The right-side hitter also added two service aces, five digs and six blocks.

In a feat she also set previously this season, Ninos scored the winning point for the Pioneers off a set from junior Kresson Vreeman (Raymond Minn.) and finished the night with two digs and two blocks. Through five sets, Vreeman dished out 62 assists while also tallying five kills, two service aces, 14 digs and four blocks.

Rounding out the double-digit kills for the Pioneers was sophomore Jordan Raines (Coppell, Texas) as she finished with 13 kills and 12 digs for her fourth double-double performance of the season.

Defensively for the Pioneers senior Clare Maxwell (Western Springs, Ill.) finished with 12 digs, while libero Kacie Wikierak (Crystal Lake, Ill.) added 21.

Four Bears finished with double-digit kills for the night as Kenzie Shreeve posted 15, Kelley Arnold added 11 and Taylor Smith and Allison Raguse both finished with 10 apiece.  

After struggling against a tough Bears defense in the first two sets, the Pioneers came out of the intermission determined to force the game into extra time. Powered by nine kills from Davidsmeyer and four from Ninos, the Pioneers took the third set 25-22.

With the score tied 8-8 in the fourth set, Denver began to pull away from UNC, stringing together seven straight point off serves from Wikierak to take a 15-8 lead. After allowing the Bears to grab the next point, the Pioneers bolstered their advantage grabbing two quick points off a kill from Davidsmeyer and the blocking tandem of Davidsmeyer and Vreeman, forcing UNC to call its second timeout of the set.

With the Pioneers leading 17-9, the Bears secured the next two points off kills from Raguse and Smith to pull within six points. However, the Pioneers answered right back, going on an 8-5 run to take the set 25-16 forcing a fifth set.

The action got even more intense in the fifth set as the Pioneers found themselves deadlocked at 9-9 with the Bears. Hoping to use the momentum, Denver grabbed the next five points as Raines, Maxwell and Ninos all scored to take a 14-10 advantage. Unwilling to give-up, the Bears answered, scoring the next four points to cut the Pioneers lead to one, 14-13.

Needing to win by a two-point advantage, Denver notched the final point off a kill from Ninos to seal its fifth win of the season.

Denver begins Sun Belt Conference action this weekend as it hosts North Texas on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. in Hamilton Gymnasium. Fans can watch live via Pioneer Vision and follow and follow all the Pioneers' stats on Live Stats.

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