Buffs Fall To Cougars – University of Colorado Athletics

BOULDER – The Colorado women’s volleyball team (14-14, 6-11) fell to the No. 11 Washington State Cougars (21-7, 11-6) in three sets here Sunday night.

The Buffs fought back in set three after a tough battle against the Cougars in sets one and two, but ultimately CU could not complete the comeback.

Despite the loss, Maya Tabron once again led CU in kills, hitting nine in 27 attempts. Lexi Hadrych made her return after missing six straight matches due to an injury, earning eight kills in 15 attempts to hit .400. Skyy Howard was also a strong contributor as she led the team with blocks, earning five. 

Colorado was unable to keep up with Washington State’s Pia Timmer. The outside hitter earned 15 kills in 33 attempts to hit .333. As a team, WSU had a .379 hitting percentage while CU hit .181.

Colorado will look to bounce back this Sunday against the University of Washington Huskies at 12:00 p.m. MT here at the CU Events Center. The team will honor their five graduating players prior to the match.

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

SET ONE: An early 4-0 scoring run had Colorado trailing to Washington State 4-1. Multiple service errors early in set one caused a forced timeout by the Buffs at 16-9. Colorado responded with a 3-0 scoring run off of a block from Cayla Payne; however, the Buffs were not able to stop the Cougars as they fell to WSU 25-18. 

SET TWO: The Cougars jumped to a 10-3 lead to take the early advantage. Hadrych brought the Buffs back to life with two blocks and three kills to bring Colorado back from a deep deficit, followed by a 3-0 scoring run to get back within two at 14-12. A kill from Ana Burilovic kept Colorado close at 24-20; however, Washington State took set two 25-20. 

SET THREE: The Buffs took the first few points with an early lead at 2-0 and maintained the lead through to 8-6 off of an attack from Burilovic. A continued 11-7 lead forced a WSU time out. A slow start to the match did not slow down Colorado as they went on a 3-0 scoring run to increase their lead to 16-11. A late 6-0 scoring run gave the Cougars the lead at 20-19. The Buffs responded with two blocks from Howard and Tabron to tie things up at 21-21, yet WSU closed out set three 25-23.

QUOTES: 

Coach Jesse Mahoney

Opening Statement

“Frustrating match. Obviously Washington State’s very good, and I thought they played exceptionally…