(USAFA, Colo. - Sept. 19, 2025) - The Trailblazers continued their strong start to the season on Friday at the Into the Blue Invitational defeating Northern Colorado in four sets while falling in a five-set heartbreaker to Denver at Cadet East Gym.
Getting action started against Northern Colorado (2-8), the Trailblazers dropped the opening set, 22-25, but rallied to take the next three sets, 25-22, 25-19, 25-20.
The second contest of the day saw the Trailblazers earn wins in set one, 25-22 and set three, 25-21 over Denver (7-3), but dropped sets two & four by matching scores of 25-22 before the Pioneers took the deciding fifth set, 15-12.
On the day she set the program record for career kills,
Kennedi Knudsen had a pair of standout performances tallying 61 kills between the two contests with 28 against the Bears and added 33 versus the Pioneers.
Taylor Snow tallied her third double-digit kill performance of the season against Northern Colorado chipping in 12 kills to go along with six digs and five blocks.
Setter
Marley Roe led the team with 27 assists and
Mya Laufiso had a team-best 17 digs against the Bears.
Roe came back to set a season high with 28 assists versus the Pioneers and Laufiso came one dig shy of matching her career high in digs against DU posting a season-best 25.
How It Happened vs. Northern Colorado
Dropping the opening set for only the fourth time this season, the Trailblazers went on a 7-2 run to break an 8-8 start getting a kill from
Tessa Treanor to put UT ahead, 15-10.
The Bears responded with a 9-1 run to jump ahead 19-16 and force a Trailblazer timeout.
Out of the break, UT was able to get within one at 22-21 after
Sydney Reese and
Casidy Fried combined for a block, but three of the final four points of the set went to the Bears.
Looking to even the match in the second set, the Trailblazers got out to a 9-7 start on the heels of a kill by Snow and an attack error, but the Bears answered back with an 8-3 run to jump ahead 15-12 and force a UT timeout.
Five straight points out of the break pushed UT back ahead by a pair (17-15) and a 4-0 run for the Trailblazers pushed UT up 22-17 after a kill by Snow.
A 4-1 run by the Bears cut the Trailblazers lead back down to two (23-21), but back-to-back kills by Knudsen sealed the set win to tie the match.
The third set saw the Trailblazers race out to a 4-0 lead, but the Bears answered back with a 14-7 run to take a 14-11 lead and force a UT timeout.
Getting a kill from Knudsen out of the timeout ignited a 14-5 run for the Trailblazers to finish out the set as an attack error and kill by Knudsen pushed UT ahead two sets to one.
Falling behind the Bears 12-11 midway through the fourth set, UT ripped off a 6-0 run capped by a service ace by
Tehanie Waters to push the Trailblazers ahead, 17-12.
With the Bears responding with a 6-2 run to trim UT's lead down to one (19-18), the Trailblazers answered right back with a 6-2 run of their own to secure the four-set win.
How It Happened vs. Denver
Overcoming an early 14-11 deficit to the Pioneers in the opening set, a 4-0 run got the Trailblazers back on top by a point after a DU attack error.
Reliquishing the lead two more times, a 5-1 run put UT ahead 21-18 after blocks by Fried and
Nana Asiata and the set closed out with back-to-back points via a Knudsen kill and blocks by Snow and Reese.
With the Pioneers evening the match with a 25-22 win in the second set, the Trailblazers jumped out to a 14-11 lead in the third set on a service ace by
Tehanie Waters.
DU trimmed down the Trailblazers' lead to one (21-20), but a 4-1 run for UT closed out a win in third set and put them on the brink of winning the match.
Unfortunately, the Pioneers had other plans winning the fourth set despite the Trailblazers getting out in front, 16-14 on a kill by Knudsen.
DU closed out the set on an 11-6 run to take the set by three and push UT to a fifth set for the third time this season.
A pair of kills by Knudsen locked up the deciding set at eight and 11 respectively, but the Pioneers prevailed down the stretch with four of the final five points of the set to complete the comeback win.
Numbers To Know
- Knudsen passed Alex Shearer (850, 2008-11) for the program's career kills mark ending the day with 908 career kills.
- Knudsen's 33 kills in the second match are one shy of the her own single match program record while her 28 kills in the first match are the fifth-most in a single match in program history.
- Against the Bears, the Trailblazers led Northern Colorado in kills (60-43), blocks (11-7) and hitting percentage (.250-.122) while the Bears led in service aces (11-3).
- The Trailblazers improve to 4-0 against Big Sky opponents this season and will play one more Big Sky opponent on Oct. 28 when Northern Arizona comes to St. George.
- Utah Tech led Denver in digs (60-57), but the Pioneers narrowly led the way in kills (63-62), service aces (5-4), blocks (13-12) and hitting percentage (.245-.199).
- Friday marked the first and only day of the season where the Trailblazers will play twice in one day. UT played on the same day two times in each of the last four seasons.
Up Next
The Trailblazers close out the Into the Blue Invitational on Saturday morning taking on Air Force (8-3) at 11 a.m.
