Buffaloes Drop Close Match To Trojans

LOS ANGELES — Colorado women’s volleyball dropped a close four-set match (25-15, 23-25, 25-19, 28-26) here Friday night to USC.
 
The Buffaloes (10-3, 2-1 Pac-12) fall out of the Pac-12 lead after the Trojans (10-4, 2-1 Pac-12) put down 15 service aces.
 
Junior Maya Tabron kept the Buffs in the match late, picking up seven of her 13 kills in the fourth set while hitting .303 in the match. She was just one dig shy of a double-double with nine. Lexi Hadrych added 11 kills and was one of four Buffs with three or more blocks.
 
USC tried its best to slow down CU’s middles, but Alexia Kuehl and Meegan Hart combined for 17 kills and seven blocks led by Kuehl’s nine kills and four blocks.
 
On the defensive end, Katie Lougeay matched her career-best with 18 digs. Kuehl led the team in blocks with four, while Hart, Schneggenburger and Hadrych all had three.
 
The Trojans were led by Skylar Fields with 24 kills hitting .309. The largest factor in the match came from setter Mia Tuaniga who had a triple-double with 37 assists, 10 aces and 10 digs.
 
The Buffaloes fall to 0-13 in the Galen Center against the Trojans but will look to bounce back Sunday at 1 p.m. MT against UCLA in Pauley Pavilion.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET ONE
USC opened up with a 5-2 run with three quick kills and an ace. A pair of Hadrych kills tied things up at five apiece. The Trojans pushed a three-point run to an 11-7 lead hitting .500. After a sideout, another three-point run by USC forced a timeout from the Buffs at 14-8 with the Trojans putting down three service aces. USC repeated the process again to a 17-9 lead behind a fourth aces as the Buffaloes tried to keep pace in the service game. The Buffs responded with a three-point run after a Simpson ace and Hart kill, cutting the lead to 17-12 before dropping two points and calling a second timeout. Out of the break USC put down their fifth three-point run of the set and extended it to six-straight before a service error ended the run a point shy of set point. Set point came at 24-14 and ended two plays later at 25-15 with USC outhitting Colorado .379 to .148.
 
SET TWO
The second set started the same with a 5-2 run, halted immediately but a CU timeout. Colorado responded with a three-point run to 7-6 with a pair of forced attack errors on the Trojans and a Tabron kill….