SAN MARCOS, Calif. – CUI women's volleyball finished the CSUSM Cougar Classic Saturday finishing 1-1 on the day in a double header and earning their first win of the season on the road. The Golden Eagles lost in three against MSU Denver with scores 25-20, 25-19, and 25-20 and bounced back with a win over Saginaw Valley State in four 25-19, 23-25, 25-11, and 25-14.
 
CUI 0, MS Denver 3
 
Middles Caitlin Jarrell and Jalyssa Sanchez made an impact on the court each contributing five kills with no errors and hitting an impressive .385 and .556. Senior Kirra Schulz led the Eagles with 12 kills and scooping up nine digs from the back. Daniela Poles and Danielle McCasland both smacked down four kills a-piece. Julia Wilson led the Golden Eagles in the back row as libero with 15 digs. Michelle Feliciano and Kawehi Chang both led the offense with 14 and 12 assists respectively.
 
A couple service runs from Feliciano and Schulz helped CUI back in the game but the Road Runners were able to hold the Golden Eagles from going on any other runs during the match. MSU Denver closed out the match in three sets with final scores of 25-20, 25-19, and 25-20.  
 
CUI 3, SVSU 1
 
Kennedy Farley went on a five point run at the service line in the first set to take a 14-7 lead over the Cardinals. The Golden Eagles held the Cardinals with a score 25-19. Set two was a battle between the two teams as the score went back and forth until the end of the set where SVSU took a two point lead and was able to finish with two consecutive CUI errors.
 
The third set was another service game for the Golden Eagles as libero Wilson went on a seven point run with help from six errors from the Cardinals and jumped out with a 12-3 lead. SVSU was unable to recover and the Golden Eagles shut them down with a 25-11 score. The fourth set was no different from the previous set other than Chang going on a service run in the beginning to set the momentum for a match win. Once again, the Golden Eagles dominated to finish the match with a final score 25-14 where Poles crushed a kill along with an ace to secure the first win of the season.

The offense was distributed evenly during the match as Schulz, Farley, and Poles finished with 13 kills each. Schulz was all over the back row as she picked up 28 digs, making that a personal record as her previous was 20 against Point Loma last year in the 2021 season.
 
Middles were a force to be reckon with during offense as Sanchez had eight kills, Cassie Prior had six and Jarrell earned four. All three middles hit at .250 or above over the course of four sets. Wilson wore the libero jersey and had a career-high of 22 digs as well. Feliciano set up 23 assists with Chang alongside recording 21 while they both had double digit digs, 10 and 12.

 
The Golden Eagles move to 1-2 on the season and will look ahead to Seaside Tournament next weekend hosted by Point Loma in San Diego, Calif. CUI will kick off the tournament against Simon Frasier Thursday, Sept. 1 at 2:30 p.m.
 
To see the full CUI women's volleyball schedule, click HERE.