Buffs Head Into Final Week Of Regular Season Play

BOULDER  — The University of Colorado women’s volleyball team enters the final week of their regular season facing Arizona on the road and hosting Utah for senior day.  

The Buffs (18-10, 10-8 Pac-12) defeated both teams earlier this season, but the stakes are high as CU currently sits at a 46 RPI ranking and are the 32nd team in RPI rankings cur­rently not leading their conference for an automatic bid. There are 32 automatic bids for conference winners, with 32 more spots for the top RPI teams that do not get an automatic bid.

For the Buffs to have a shot at extending their season, they’ll need to win at least one, if not both matches this week.

CU is entering their last week after a roller-coaster travel weekend to Washington. The Buffs defeated No. 21 Washington at UW for the first time in program history Friday night. The Buffs hit .347, and earned 41 digs and four blocks to hold the Huskies to a .231 hitting percentage.

Unfortunately, the Buffs ran into an obstacle in the form of No. 25 Washington State Sunday and lost in four sets. The team hit .197, earning 45 kills compared to WSU’s 61.

For the weekend, Katie Lougeay led the team in digs with 19 while Lexi Hadrych led the team offensively, earning 24 kills and a .327 attack percentage.

The Buffs face Arizona at 1 p.m. MT Wednesday. The match will be shown on Arizona’s Live Stream.

Friday, Colorado faces Utah at 3 p.m. MT, and the game will be streamed on Pac-12 Mountain. Prior to the match, the Buffs’ seven seniors will be celebrated.

ARIZONA

Over the weekend, the Wildcats (15-14, 5-13 Pac-12) defeated Cal in five sets, but were swept by Stanford. The team has been averaging 12.4 kills and 13.8 digs a set. Outside hitter Sofia Maldonado Diaz leads the Wildcats in kills, averaging 3.12 a set with a .214 attack percentage. Defensively, libero Kamaile Hiapo has been frustrating her opponents’ offense by picking up a little over four digs a set.

UTAH

The Buffs opened their conference play by sweeping the Utes (15-14, 8-10 Pac-12) and now will close it by playing their conference rivals once again.

Utah was swept by both No. 25 Washington State and No. 21 Washington over the weekend, extending their losing streak to three. Before playing the Buffs at home Friday, the Utes will look to snap the streak against Arizona State in Tempe…