Buffs Ready to Open Up Conference Play at Home

BOULDER — The Colorado Women’s Volleyball team (8-3) is set to open up Pac-12 conference play at home this weekend. They will play Utah Thursday night in the CU Events Center at 7 p.m. MT, followed up with nationally-ranked No. 4 Stanford on Sunday at 12 p.m. MT. 

The Buffs are coming off a 2-1 weekend, splitting the series with CSU and taking down Denver in four sets this past Sunday. They enter conference play with an almost identical record they had last season before their first Pac-12 matchup, suffering just one more loss in the 2023 campaign. 

Lexi Hadrych is coming off an impressive performance against the Pioneers, tying a career-high in kills with 22 and currently leads the team with 133 kills through 11 matches. 

CU is out-blocking their opponents at an impressive rate with 113 total blocks so far, to their opponents’ total of 71, a plus 42 differential. Skyy Howard is responsible for nearly half of those blocks, currently sitting at 51 before the weekend. 

OPPONENT OVERVIEW

UTAH

It’s been a rollercoaster of a ride for the Utes through the first ten games, as they lost the first match of the season and then would go on to alternate between wins and losses to bring them to their current 5-5 record. Their most notable wins include UNLV and NC State. Utah has two players, Lauren Jardine and Kamryn Gibadlo, who lead the team in kills on the young season. 

Colorado is night-and-day when playing Utah at home versus on the road. CU is 10-4 at home in the series but a measly 3-11 when traveling to Salt Lake City. 

STANFORD

The Stanford Cardinal head into Boulder with a 7-2 record and are ranked as the No. 4 team in the country. They enter Pac-12 play after a gauntlet of a non-conference schedule, facing six ranked teams in nine matches. They recorded impressive wins over No. 2 Louisville, No. 7 Texas, No. 10 Minnesota, and No. 15 Ohio State while surrendering to No. 4 Nebraska and No. 8 Florida at home. 

As far as the all-time series goes between Colorado and Stanford, the Cardinal have made it a lopsided series up to this point. Stanford is 26-1 against the Buffs, suffering their lone loss in 2015 at the CU Events Center.