BOULDER – The Colorado Women’s Volleyball team (11-9, 3-6 Pac 12) defeated the University of Arizona Wildcats (6-13, 1-8 Pac 12) in three sets (25-21, 25-16, 25-16) here in the CU Events Center Friday.
The Buffs were led once again by outside hitter Lexi Hadrych as she hit .419 and earned herself 16 kills in 31 attempts. Middle blocker Cayla Payne picked up eight kills in 14 attempts to hit .500 while also posting four blocks. As a team, the Buffs hit .330 on the match.
Colorado’s defense had an excellent night with Maya Tabron earning nine digs, while Skyy Howard led the defense at the net, earning five blocks. Taylor Simpson was also a huge factor in tonight’s victory as she earned 29 assists on the Buffs’ offense.
“I thought we were able to learn from what we did well, and what we didn’t do well over the past weekend,” Payne commented. “We were able to implement that this weekend and turn things around to gain some momentum going into the last part of the Pac-12 season.”
The Buffs will look to gain another victory as they face No. 17 Arizona State here Sunday at 12:00 p.m. MT in the CU Events Center.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
SET ONE: Arizona held an early lead of 5-1 to start things off; however, that lead was quickly taken by the Buffs to tie the score at 8-8 off of a kill from Lily Dwinell. The teams battled between a back and forth lead for the middle of set one, but, Colorado eventually took control of the lead at 14-11 off of Hadrych’s sixth kill of the match, forcing an Arizona time out. The Buffs did not look back as they held onto their lead for the remainder of the match, taking set one 25-21.
SET TWO: A block by Dwinell kicked things off early for the Buffs in set two, giving them an early 4-2 lead. Another block from Payne kept things alive, increasing Colorado’s lead to 9-4 on a 4-0 scoring run. The Buffs went on a 3-0 scoring run to bring the lead to 17-11, forcing an Arizona timeout. Colorado kept fighting and held onto their lead for the remainder of the set, winning set two 25-16.
SET THREE: It was a tied match to start with the teams switching points back and forth early on. The Buffs got things rolling after a kill from Payne to give Colorado the lead at 10-8. A 4-0 scoring run and a kill from Dwinell kept things alive, bringing the score to 19-12. Howard earned her fifth block…
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