BOXSCORE: NC - UTEP

FARGO, N.D. -- Five up. Five down.

Northern Colorado's women's volleyball program has gotten off to a torrid start to the 2008 season, and that march continued Friday afternoon, Sept. 5, when the Bears knocked off UTEP 3-1 (30-28, 25-20, 23-25, 29-27) in the first round of the North Dakota State Doublewood Inn Classic at Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse.

Northern Colorado is now 5-0 on the season as it heads into two games tomorrow afternoon against Illinois-Chicago and tournament-host North Dakota State.

The victory Friday continued the Bears' best start to a season at the Division I level and their best overall start since beginning 10-0 in 2002. This is just the second season since 1996 that the Bears have started a perfect 5-0.

Different players have stepped up in Northern Colorado's victories this season, and against the Miners, junior Kenzie Shreeve was the biggest star. She led all players with 23 kills and five service aces, and she also contributed 15 digs and 22 reception on 24 chances (.917 pct.).

"We relied heavlily on Kenzie, and she came through and played a great match for us," Northern Colorado coach Lyndsey Benson said. "She was low error and scored in every area of the court."

The Bears, as a team, also got after it defensively in the match. They came into the NDSU tournament with 166 digs in their previous four victories, but Northern Colorado got 76 in the victory Friday.

Breanna VanDerMost led with 22 digs, and true freshman Amanda Arterburn was second with 18, including some key gets in the decisive fourth set.

"We made some great defensive plays late in the match," Benson said. "Amanda Arterburn had a great match for us as our middle back and really covered a lot of court to limit their best player on the left side."

With the victory, Northern Colorado extended its lead in the series history with UTEP to 6-2. The Miners fell to 2-4 on the season.