Buffs Fall In Three To No. 4 WSU

Pullman, Wash. – The Colorado Women’s Volleyball Team (10-9, 2-6 Pac-12) fell in straight sets to the fourth-ranked Washington State Cougars (17-2, 7-1 Pac-12) here Sunday, losing 23-25, 19-25, 17-25. 

Despite the loss, the Buffs played a strong match with multiple highlights. Lexi Hadrych led Colorado with 11 kills. Skyy Howard produced five kills in 13 attempts to hit .231 while also earning five blocks. Lily Dwinell also stepped up, earning five kills in 15 attempts to hit .200 as well as three blocks. 

CU only recorded 28 kills while the Cougars earned 44. The Buffs could not keep up with Washington State’s Pia Timmer, who led the Cougars to their win producing 17 kills in 38 attempts to hit .289. WSU also recorded four aces, while Colorado only earned one.

“Washington State puts a lot of pressure on you from the service line,” commented head coach Jesse Mahoney. “It led to too many out of system swings for our left side hitters this afternoon.”

The Buffs head home to host Arizona on Friday October 20 at 7 p.m. and Arizona State on Sunday October 22 at 12:00 p.m. in the CU Events Center. 

SET ONE: The Buffs traded points evenly back and forth with WSU for the beginning of set one. The Cougars took the lead of 15-12 off a few Buff errors, however, a powerful kill from Maya Tabron brought Colorado back into play. Hadrych then went on for her third kill of the match to tie the game at 17-17. The Buffs fought hard and went on a 3-0 scoring run to stay within a point of the Cougars; however, the lead was not returned as the WSU took set one at 25-23. 

SET TWO: Colorado held an early lead of 4-3 but found themselves in another tight battle as the lead was traded back and forth early on. The Cougars then went on a 4-0 scoring run; however, the Buffs did not back down as they were able to maintain within two points of WSU at 17-15. Howard produced her fifth kill of the match with a .364 hitting percentage to keep things alive, but the Buffs fell to the Cougars 25-19. 

SET THREE: Washington State produced an early lead of 7-3 in the third set. Ana Burilović earned her first two kills of the match to bring the score to a close 9-8. Although the Cougars held onto their lead, the Buffs went on a 3-0 scoring run to stay within two points at 16-14. Ultimately, Colorado was not able to fight back…