DENVER, Colo. - Stepping into Summit League action for the first time this fall, Western Illinois volleyball (1-11, 0-1) took on a challenge in visiting Denver (10-1, 1-0); the 2020-21 regular-season league champs. Protecting its home floor, the Pioneers won in a sweep (22-25, 10-25, 16-25).

WIU played Denver closely early in set one, as Aubrey Putman skied to even the score 6-6 on a hammer. A mere few possessions later, the junior delivered once again to make it 10-10. The Pioneers' three straight errors gave the Leathernecks a 14-13 lead before the host regrouped in a timeout. Western continued its solid play out of the break, as a Maggie Craker service ace and Kalynn Davis kill turned the lead into 20-15. However, Denver woke up and caught fire on a 9-1 final push to win 25-22.

Denver maintained its control with a 6-0 start in set two. Putman and Peyton Bowman helped put WIU on the board, down 10-4. Bowman, Kennedy Davis, and Hailey Pollock gave Western a few more points, but Denver stayed hot to finish off the second period, 25-10.

Set three had a similar look to the opening period -- a tightly played first slew of possessions. Bowman went into a nice groove to give Western three successful possessions in a row. Denver found momentum in another big run, 6-1, to take a 15-10 advantage. Brittany Wulf and Isabella Biesterfeld stepped in to provide a spark, and the WIU hitters cut things to 21-15. Nevertheless, the Pioneers completed a 4-1 late rally to end the night in a sweep.

Bowman and Kennedy Davis led the attacking game with eight and seven kills, respectively. Craker dished out a new single-match, career-high of 23 assists. Putman added five kills and five digs. Gabby DePersio finished with a team-high seven digs.

Part two of Western's road trip takes the team to Omaha for a 3 p.m. meeting on Saturday.