ALAMOSA, Colo. – The Adams State Women's Volleyball kicked off the weekend in a Friday night matchup against CSU-Pueblo. Unfortunately, the Grizzlies took a tough loss and fell to the Thunderwolves 2-3.
 
CSU-Pueblo took the first set and handed the Grizzlies a 21-25 loss to begin the matchup. The Thunderwolves capitalized on the few errors that the Grizzlies had, utilizing those points to put them ahead. Pueblo obtained 15 kills, almost doubling the Grizzlies numbers in the game. In addition, the Thunderwolves earned themselves a hitting percentage of .186, gathered 43 attack attempts, and had 2 blocks. Outnumbering the Grizzlies statistically speaking, the Thunderwolves took the first set and win of the night.
 
The Grizzlies bounced back in the second set, reversing the roles from the first set. Despite Pueblo having more attack attempts, Adams State earned the win by pulling out 15 kills, a hitting percentage of .222, and defending with 4 blocks. The Grizzlies earned the second set with a score of 25-20.
 
Going into the third set it was tied 1-1, but the Thunderwolves would notch the third set to gain the lead. The set remained close for most of the time, each team matching each other. Pueblo began to slowly pull away, but the Grizzlies fought back to put them only 1 point behind of the Thunderwolves. Unfortunately, Pueblo shot down any comeback the Grizzlies were trying to cook up by finishing the set strong and taking a 17-25 win.
 
Grizzlies started off the fourth set strong, looking for a bounce back from the third. Just after Pueblo tied the set at 5-5 early on, the Grizzlies went on a run to put themselves up 11 – 6. Despite the lead that the Grizzlies kept adding to, Pueblo chipped away at the lead in an unanswered run and tied it back up at 15 – 15. Both teams began to match each other's points, keeping the set tied. Finally, the Grizzlies grabbed the lead again and took the fourth set in a 25-19 win.
 
With everything tied up 2-2, Adams State and Pueblo duked it out in the fifth set. The Thunderwolves started the set off strong and obtained a quick 10-4 lead. With a tough start, Adams State called a timeout in hopes to stop Pueblo's momentum. Fortunately, it worked, and the Grizzlies began to chip away at Pueblo's lead that eventually allowed them to tie the set up at 13-13. Despite the comeback, the Thunderwolves took the fifth and final set in a close score of 13-15.
 
Leading the Grizzlies on the attack was Shannon Mulkey with 14 kills and Alexandra MacAskill with 11. Helping them was Bailey Schlosser with 22 assists and Maya Waddington with 14. Defensively, Mackenzie Swanson led with 28 digs and Mulkey led with 5 blocks.
 
Despite taking a loss, the Grizzlies played well and held their own by determinedly keeping each set tightly knit. Adams State Women's Volleyball comes out of tonight with an overall record of 7-18 and conference record of 4-12. They look to split the weekend and bounce back against New Mexico Highlands in a Saturday night matchup.