Colorado Loses Close Match to No. 8 Stanford

BOULDER — Colorado women’s volleyball suffered a competitive four-set match loss (25-13, 20-25, 25-20, 25-23) to No. 8-ranked Stanford here Friday night, its first loss at home this season.
 
The Buffaloes (11-4, 3-2 Pac12) lost their second conference matchup of the season despite committing six less turnovers than the Cardinal (9-4, 4-1 Pac12).
 
Lexi Hadrych led CU with 15 total kills, six of which came in the second set, and four blocks. Maya Tabron and Alexia Kuehl each had eight kills in the match and Kuehl matched Hadrych’s four blocks. Kuehl also had a solid hitting percentage of .412 which ranked first among players with more than one kill.
 
Taylor Simpson had 22 assists which helped Colorado to have nine players record a kill on offense. She also had 11 digs to record a double-double and Brynna DeLuzio led the team in digs with 13.
 
For Stanford, Kendall Kipp had 22 kills while hitting .395. She also had three blocks and four service aces in the win. Kami Miner averaged 13 assists per set.
 
The biggest advantage for the Cardinal came in the assist column, recording 66 compared to Colorado’s 39 which helped Stanford to outhit CU .277 to .200.
 
The Buffaloes will continue their weekend at home when they take on Cal on Sunday at noon for their Pride match.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
SET ONE: Colorado took a two-point lead at 6-4 early in the set. Stanford thought it tied things up at seven all before a CU game challenge reversed the call and gave the Buffs an 8-6 lead. Tabron got a kill to go up three before the Cardinal went on a 6-0 scoring run to take a 12-9 lead and force a Colorado timeout. After the break, the scoring run continued to 13 before CU took its second and final timeout of the set. Levaggi ended the Stanford 14-point scoring run with her first kill of the night. Rubin racked up her seventh kill to give the Cardinal set point. Francis got her sixth kill to win the set 25-13. Stanford outhit the Buffs .333 to .055 in the set.
 
SET TWO: After the Cardinal went on a three-point scoring run, Colorado scored back-to-back points to tie everything at seven all. CU scored four unanswered points to go up 12-10. Hadrych picked up her fifth kill of the set which forced a Stanford timeout as the Buffs led 15-13. Colorado extended its lead to four at 20-16, leading to…