The Colorado College volleyball team wrapped up the 2024 Pikes Peak Challenge with a thrilling five-set victory over 11^th-ranked Transylvania University Saturday night at Reid Arena.
 
The Tigers and Pioneers each entered the match looking for their first win of the season and it came down to the final moments.
 
Transylvania jumped out to an 11-6 lead in the deciding set, but junior Carolyn Dormady and sophomore Brooke Brilliant would not be denied. Dormady had four kills and Brilliant added three as the Tigers rattled off an 11-6 run to end the match. Dormady had the last of her 19 kills to make it 16-15 before a bad set from Transylvania handed the Tigers the upset win.
 
Brilliant was just that Saturday night, posting a career- and game-high 20 kills while committing just two errors for an astounding .486 hitting percentage. Dormady had just four errors and hit .319.
 
The teams traded 25-22 scores in the initial two sets, with CC winning the first. In set three, the Tigers fought off two set points, one on a kill by Brilliant and another from sophomore Camille Sherrill (11 kills), and Sherrill put down the final point of the set.
 
Transylvania fought back to win the fourth set, 25-16, setting up the dramatic final act.
 
Senior Annie Steger collected a career-high 52 assists and tied Meghan Gannon for the team lead with 17 digs.

"This win was a great way to end our weekend," head coach Sharon Dingman said. "Every match we got better and better. All weekend we talked about playing every point with grit and tonight we did that. We are very proud of our performances all weekend."
 
In the opening match of the day against 16^th-ranked Gustavus Adolphus, a three-set loss (25-20, 25-20, 25-23), Dormady led the Tigers with a season-high 13 kills, followed by Sherrill with seven.
 
Steger collected 23 assists and Meghan Gannon led the team with 12 digs.
 
The Gusties came out fast, dominating the first set, but CC put up a battle in the second and third.
 
With the final set tied at 14-all, the Tigers used three kills from Dormady to produce a 9-4 run to take a commanding 23-18 lead, but the Gusties got three kills from Sydney Timm and scored eight of the last nine points to win their third straight match to open the season.
 
Lauren Klaith led GAC with 11 kills with no errors, while Marlee Turn had eight.
 
Millikin, Gustavus Adolphus and fifth-ranked UW-Oshkosh each posted a 3-1 record during the Pikes Peak Challenge, with each team winning once against the other two. CC went 1-3 and Transylvania was 0-4.
 
Colorado College returns to action on Friday, Sept. 6, with a pair of matches in the East-West Classic in St. Louis. The Tigers face ninth-ranked Emory (1 pm CT) and Tufts (7 pm CT).