BOULDER – The University of Colorado’s women’s volleyball team opened up the 2023 season with a tough loss to a solid UNLV squad here at the CU Events Center Friday night. The match brought in a total attendance of 4,833 fans, 3,240 of whom were students. The crowd was the largest the CU Events Center has ever had for a women’s volleyball match.
Coming into tonight, CU had won nine straight matches in the Buffs Invitational, but the Rebels put an end to that streak with a 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 25-14, 25-18) victory. CU looked good in the first set, but was unable to match that success the rest of the night.
The Buffaloes’ attack was led by graduate student Lexi Hadrych who totaled 14 kills. She was the only member of Colorado to record double-digits in that category. Hadrych added 11 digs and two blocks on the defensive end.
Skyy Howard and Lily Dwinell both played in their first-ever match for the black and gold, and they seemed to mesh well with the team. Howard tallied six kills and seven blocks while Dwinell had four kills and three blocks.
Colorado struggled to slow down UNLV’s leading scorer, Isabel Martin who recorded a match-high 28 kills while hitting an impressive .658. The Rebels held the Buffs to a .163 hitting percentage which seemed to be the difference maker tonight.
The Buffs Invitational will continue tomorrow when UNLV faces off against North Texas at 3 p.m. The Buffaloes will look to bounce back with a win against Campbell at 6 p.m. Campbell lost to North Texas earlier today in a full five-set match.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
SET ONE:
Colorado and UNLV battled out to a 5-5 tie to start out the match. The tie continued to nine all before the Buffs scored four consecutive points to take a 13-9 lead. The Rebels responded with three points of their own to come within one. A block by Tabron followed by a UNLV attack error put CU up 17-13, forcing the Rebels to take their first timeout of the set. After the break, UNLV went on a run to cut its deficit to just one at 18-17 which led Colorado to take their own timeout. The Buffs took another four-point lead at 23-19 after a kill from Hadrych as the Rebels decided to take their final timeout of the set. Back-to-back UNLV attack errors gave CU set point and the set win 25-20.
SET TWO:
UNLV came out firing in the second set, scoring the…
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