DUBUQUE, Iowa – After coming off an exciting win on Wednesday night against Loras College, the University of Dubuque volleyball team was back inside Stoltz Sports Center facing non-conference opponent, the Carroll University Pioneers on Friday night. The Spartans would defeat the Pioneers 3-0 (27-25, 25-18, 25-23).

The opening set would be a close one as the Pioneers jumped out to a quick 11-7 lead before the Spartans would score the next four to even the set at 11-11. Both teams would trade points in the later as the Spartans got up two at 23-21, but the Pioneers scored the next three to lead 24-23. Each team kept battling point for point before the Spartans won the set 27-25.  

Building off the momentum, the Spartans would quickly jump out to an 8-3 lead in set two forcing the Pioneers to call timeout. After the timeout the Spartans continued with four more points to increase their lead to 12-3 forcing yet another Pioneer timeout. The Spartans would score 12 straight points since they trailed 2-3 early in the set. The Spartans had a lead as much as 17-5 in the second set.  The Pioneers closed the gap some, but the Spartans held their own to take a commanding two set lead after a 25-18 set two victory.

Looking to close out the game, the Spartans started set three trailing 0-4 before battling back with five of the next six points to draw even with the Pioneers at 5-5. The Pioneers would find themselves back in front in the middle of set three by four at 10-14 forcing the Spartans to call timeout. The Spartans then found a way to battle back and scored nine of the next 13 points to take the lead 19-18 forcing the Pioneers to call timeout. The Spartans would never relinquish the lead winning the third and final set 25-23 and winning their fifth game in a row.

Emma Powell led the Spartans with 13 kills and Payton Uptagraft added 11 tonight. Powell also added 14 digs. Morgan Hunter led the had a game-high 18 digs. Ashlyn McGinnis assisted 22 points tonight to lead the Spartans. The Spartans had an attacking percentage of .266 in the three set match.

The Spartans are now 13-4 overall and 1-0 in A-R-C play.

Up Next
The Spartans will stay at home as they face Edgewood College next Tuesday, October 3 at 7:00 p.m. inside Stoltz Sports Center.