Buffs Dominate First Match of Colorado Classic

BOULDER – The Colorado women’s volleyball team (4-1) handed the Xavier Musketeers (25-16, 25-20, 25-10) their first loss of the season in CU’s first match of the Colorado Classic Friday night. The Buffs have defeated their last four opponents without dropping a single set.

CU had an outstanding attacking night, hitting .452 while holding the Musketeers to a .070 attack percentage. The Buffs picked up 33 digs throughout the course of the evening, and setter Taylor Simpson led the team with eight. Outside hitter Lexi Hadrych led the Buffs in kills with 13 to finish with a .579 attack percentage. 

First year Lily Dwinell set a new career high in kills for a single match with eight on 14 attempts and zero errors to close out the evening with a .571 hitting percentage. Defensively, she had five block assists.

Skyy Howard continued to be a dynamic force at the net, ending the night with a .545 attack percentage with seven kills. She made it difficult for the Musketeers to find the floor as she led CU in blocks with 4 total blocks.

The match also saw several new Buff faces. Bella Simkus and Emilea Stepaniuk made their  season debuts while Ana Burilovic” made her career debut. 

CU will face Charlotte (3-1) in their second game of the Colorado Classic tomorrow at 6 p.m. 

How It Happened

Set One:

The Buffs jumped out to an early lead in the first set with Hadrych achieving four kills in CU’s first 10 points, forcing the Musketeers to use their first timeout at 10-4. After the timeout, CU continued to build their lead and extended it to nine at 16-7 off a kill by Dwinell. Simkus made her season debut at 19-10, and Emilea Stepaniuk made hers at 20-12. (put how many digs or kills she had). The Buffs finished off the set 25-16 with a kill by outside hitter Sydney Jordan.  

Set Two:

The second set proved to be more of a battle for the Buffs as the two squads went point for point early on in the game. Simpson strung together the first serving run for the Buffs, giving them a 13-11 lead by the time a Xavier kill ended it. Colorado maintained their lead and extended it to six at 21-15 off a kill from Simpson. From there, Xavier couldn’t close the gap and the CU ended the set 25-20 with a kill from Howard.

Set Three: 

At 3-2, Dwinell earned her sixth kill of the night on an out-of-system play. The Buffs continued to…