ALAMOSA, Colo. – Kicking off both conference play and its home schedule, Adams State got off to a quick start by taking the first set, but failed to win another as visiting Colorado Christian earned a 3-1 win over the Grizzlies in the host's home opener.
The 25-20, 21-25, 19-25, 22-25 decision drops ASU to 3-6 overall, and 0-1 in RMAC play.
Anna Huggins led all players with 15 kills, and was joined in double-figure putaways by
Riley Rabedeaux (14) and
Cindy Garcia (13), but the Grizzlies hit just .139 for the match in the otherwise statistically even contest.
Despite the Cougars jumping to quick 5-2 and 10-4 leads to open the contest, kills by Garcia and a handful of CC errors brought ASU to within 14-13, with a kill by Gallegos and another Cougar error giving the Grizzlies a one-point lead.
Tied at 19, ASU outscored the visitors 6-1, reeling off four-straight to win the opener, punctuated by a Garcia flush.
Contrary to the first set, the Grizzlies jumped to an early lead in set two, only to have the Cougars answer and take a 9-8 edge after scoring five-straight points.
CC pushed its lead to 16-10 to take control of the frame, keeping ASU at arm's length the rest of the set to even the match at 1-1.
It was more of the same after intermission as the Cougars doubled the score on the Grizzlies at 10-5 early. A Huggins kill brought ASU to within one at 16-15, but CC went on 5-1 run to regain control of the set, putting the Grizzlies away seven points later.
Looking to force a fifth, a pair of
Kendal O'gilvie kills broke a 5-all tie to put ASU up 7-5 in the fourth stanza, with a CC attack error giving the Grizzlies a 15-12 lead.
That's when the Cougars rallied, however, outscoring ASU 7-4 to knot the set at 19, and scoring four-straight points to push their lead to 23-20.
The two teams traded side-outs to bring the score to 24-22, before a Libby Goodman kill ended the match, sending the visitors home with the victory.
ASU edged CC in points, kills, and assists, but made 13 more hitting errors in the loss.
The Grizzlies will look to get in the league win column on Friday as they travel to Chadron State College for a 6 pm first serve.
