Colorado’s NCAA Hopes Ended By No.20 Rice

WACO, Texas — Colorado women’s volleyball fell to No. 20 Rice in four sets (26-24, 24-26, 25-16, 25-14) here Thursday night, losing in the first round in its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2018.
 
The Buffaloes (20-11, 12-8 Pac-12) lost in a tough match to the Owls (27-3, 13-1 C-USA) after suffering from long scoring runs made by Rice in the third and fourth sets.
 
Lexi Hadrych led CU on the offensive end with 20 total kills which ranked second among all players. She also had the best hitting percentage of anyone in the match with an impressive .405. Hadrych added three blocks on defense. Maya Tabron was one kill away from a double-double performance as she totaled nine kills and 17 digs to go along with her two blocks.
 
Alexia Kuehl recorded five of Colorado’s nine total blocks on the defensive end, adding to her five kills. In her second time making the NCAA tournament, Brynna DeLuzio also neared a double-double with eight assists and 11 digs.
 
For Rice, Sahara Maruska dominated as she racked up 22 total kills while hitting .309. Ellie Bichelmeyer and Danyle Courtley both reached double-digit kills for the Owls.
 
After a very tight first two sets the Buffs were outhit .244 to .070 in the third set and .389 to .053 in the final set which seemed to be the difference in Waco tonight.
 
Colorado finished the season with it best record since the 2017 season when the Buffs went 24-10 overall.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
SET ONE:  
Both teams fought back-and-forth to a 9-9 tie early in the set.  The tie continued to 14 all before a Rice service error gave Colorado a 15-14 advantage heading into a media timeout. After the break, CU committed consecutive attack errors as it trailed the Owls 16-15. Levaggi picked up her first kill of the match to tie it once again at 16-16. Both teams kept trading points all the way to a 23-23 tie before a Rice attack error set up set point for the Buffs as the Owls took their first timeout of the set. Out of the timeout, Bichelmeyer evened things up at 24 all with a kill. She then recorded two more kills to earn set point and the set win for Rice. Bichelmeyer finished the set with seven kills while hitting .778 as the Owls won the set 26-24.
 
SET TWO:
After trailing 5-2, Colorado scored three unanswered points to tie it up at 5-5 with the help of an overturned call…