DENVER, COLO. – Despite 15 combined kills from the arms of Maddy Hornyak and Ashlyn Olson, North Dakota fell 3-0 (25-13, 25-10, 25-15) to Denver (20-3, 11-2 Summit) inside Hamilton Gymnasium on Thursday night.

Hornyak led UND (1-25, 0-14 Summit) both offensively with eight kills and defensively with 11 digs.

Olson was the second most-productive attacker with seven K's to go with two blocking assists. Lexi Ahrens also recorded two blocking assists and four kills on the night.

Peyton Sewell and Kortney Carney split the setting duties, dishing out 12 and 11 assists, respectively.

Denver opened set one up 1-0, but North Dakota immediately responded with a kill from Olson. After that point, DU increased its lead to 8-3 early before UND trimmed the deficit to 8-5 after a Pioneer error and a service ace from Carney. Denver extended its lead to 13-7 shortly after and the next positive plays for UND were kills from Olson and Taylor Pribyl to bring the tally to 14-9 (Denver). Hornyak put down the next two attacks for North Dakota at 18-11 before the set ended on a 7-2 DU run.

The Fighting Hawks built a 2-0 lead to open the second stanza with a kill from Olson and a Pioneer attack error. Denver fired off four consecutive points to go up 4-2 before a Hornyak termination ended the run for Denver. The Pioneers went up 7-3 when McCallister Gayle put down an attack at 7-4. DU then put up six straight points to increase its lead to 13-4. Back-to-back kills from UND (Hornyak and Kelly Wahl) brought the Hawks within seven at 13-6. Denver then piled up a 6-0 run to bring the score to 19-6. A kill from Olson brought the score to 19-7 and another terminating attack from Olson brought it to 21-8 shortly after. Ahrens had two kills late, but it was not enough as Denver took set two, 25-10.

The third set was tied at 1-1 after an Ahrens kill. DU went up 4-2 when a Hornyak termination brought the score to 4-3. A Wahl terminating attack brought the tally to 5-4 before Denver used five-straight points to increase its lead to 10-4. The Fighting Hawks started clawing their way back into the match after a Carney kill and then an Olson kill, complimented by two Denver attack errors cut the deficit to 12-8. Next UND went on a 5-3 run of its own to trim the tally to 15-11, highlighted by another Olson kill and a Gayle terminating attack. Four consecutive points from the opposition made it 19-11 when a 3-0 spurt by North Dakota made the score 19-14, powered by kills from the arms of Ahrens and a pair of kills from Hornyak. Unfortunately, Denver countered with a 6-1 run of its own to end the final set at 25-15.

North Dakota will continue its road trip on Saturday with a match at Omaha. Opening serve between the Hawks and Mavericks is slated for Noon.