Box Score Freshman setter Lizzy Counts was named the Most Valuable Player of the Pikes Peak Challenge as she helped guide No. 8 Colorado College to a pair of victories and the tournament championship on Saturday at Reid Arena.
 
The Tigers improved to 21-3 on the season with victories over No. 23 Millikin University and Concordia College.
 
Counts recorded her 12th double-double of the season when she led the team with 39 assists and 11 digs, while picking up six kills and four blocks in a 3-2 victory over Millikin. She finished the day with 37 assists, six kills and six digs in a 3-0 sweep of Concordia.
 
In the first match of the day, after posting a season-high 14 blocks the night before, the Tigers combined for 16 blocks to hold Millikin to a .061 attack percentage. CC forced 40 errors, which was the most this season, in 180 attempts, while giving up 51 kills.
 
Junior middle hitter Glenna Yancey came up big at the net with a career-high 10 blocks to lead the team on defense. Senior right side hitter Keli Sherwood, who was named to the all-tournament team and freshman middle hitter Marguerite Spaethling also added six and five blocks, respectively.
 
The Tigers took the first two sets over Millikin, 25-12, 25-17. CC held the Big Blue to a combined .000 attack percentage in the pair of sets, forcing 17 errors in 76 attempts with 17 kills.
 
Millikin (18-7) came back in the third set with a 25-20 win and knotted the match with a 25-22 victory to send the match to the fifth and deciding set.
 
The fifth set was tied at 6-6, when junior outside hitter Reagan Folaron hit a kill to give the Tigers a 7-6 edge. Freshman defensive specialist Caitlin Laurence served an ace, which ignited an 8-0 run that was capped with a block by Yancey to earn the 15-6 victory.
 
Folaron and Spaethling led the offense with 11 kills each. Folaron also picked up 14 digs for her first double-double of the season.
 
Senior outside hitter Abbe Holtze led CC to a commanding 25-16, 25-17, 25-18 victory over Concordia with a team-best 12 kills. Holtze, who was also an all-tournament selection, added 10 digs on defense for her 14th double-double of the season.
 
The Tigers held Concordia (8-14) to a .059 hitting percentage with 24 kills in 101 attempts, while forcing the Cobbers into 18 errors.
 
CC hit a .354 attack percentage against Concordia with the help of freshman outside hitter Jordan Mullen, who hit 7 kills in 11 attempts without an error for a .636 hitting percentage. Sherwood also added eight kills with just one error in 16 attempts for a .438 attack percentage.
 
Freshman Anna Gurolnick led the defense with 16 digs and three aces, while Spaethling led the team with five blocks.  
 
Colorado College hits the road to wrap up regular-season conference action as it travels to Kerrville, Texas on Oct. 22-23. The Tigers begin the weekend with a 12:30 p.m. CT match against Schreiner University on Saturday.
     
 
All-Tournament Team
MVP - Lizzy Counts – Colorado College
Stephanie Elechko – Eastern University
Emily Friedrich – Concordia College
Abbe Holtze – Colorado College
Sarah Roberts – Eastern University
Keli Sherwood – Colorado College
Jamie Sindlinger – Luther College
Erin Syversen – Millikin University
Emma Veum – Luther College