Kearney, Neb. - The 6th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney volleyball team used a balanced offensive attack to sweep Colorado-Colorado Springs (-12, -22, -14) Friday night at the Health & Sports Center.

UNK (28-1, 16-1 RMAC) has now won 15 matches in a row and dropped just four sets during the streak (45-4). Coming off wins over Colorado Mines and Colorado Christian, UCCS drops to 15-12 (9-8 RMAC).

The Lopers controlled the first and third sets but the second featured 12 ties and six lead changes. A kill by sophomore outside Ashley Leitner (Lincoln SW) gave UNK a seemingly comfortable 21-17 lead and forced the Mountain Lions to call its second timeout.

The break worked as UCCS got back-to-back kills from Laura  Loosbrock, and an unforced Loper error, to cut the deficit to one. A block by Loosbrock and Colorado transfer Nikki Kinzer then tied things up but UNK got kills from sophomore middle Ellie Pesavento (Omaha Marian) and junior outside Ariel Krolikowski (Grand Island) to grab the momentum back.

After a bad set by the Lions, UNK went ahead 2-0 in the match wen UCCS served long.

The Lopers hit a solid .274 on the night (44-13-13) while holding Springs to a .087 effort (32-21-126). Defensively, UNK recorded 8.0 team blocks and dug up 65 balls while also benefiting from six UCCS service errors.

Individually, Krolikowski had a match-high 12 kills and a team-high 12 digs. Five other Lopers had between four and nine kills, including Lake. In the back row, junior DS Kaleigh Anderson had 11 digs and freshman libero Liz McGowan (Grand Island CC) had 10 digs.

Loosbrock came off the bench to pace UCCS, having 10 kills and a .318 attack percentage.

UNK finishes out the regular season tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. vs. Colorado School of Mines. The Orediggers played at Chadron State tonight.