BOULDER — Colorado women’s volleyball completed a wild comeback against Denver in a full five sets (25-14, 21-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-9) here Saturday evening to finish undefeated this weekend in the Buffs Invitational.
The Buffs (3-0) dominated the match with 23 blocks, holding Denver (0-3) to a .143 hitting percentage as both Alexia Kuehl and Meegan Hart picked up their first career double-doubles.
Hart, the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, had 12 kills while hitting .480 and 11 blocks. Kuehl added 11 kills with 10 blocks, hitting .333. Hart finished the tournament with 40 kills hitting .543 with 18 total blocks while Kuehl had 22 total blocks, averaging 1.83 per set.
Lexi Hadrych racked up 20 kills, leading all players, with an incredible .341 hitting percentage. She also put together a solid defensive performance with 14 digs and four blocks, recording her first double-double as a Buff. Also for Colorado, Maya Tabron had 14 kills hitting .194.
The CU offense was led by Taylor Simpson with an impressive 47 assists, along with Brynna DeLuzio who stepped in alongside Sterling Parker to spark the comeback for Colorado. DeLuzio had 10 assists and three digs while Parker added five blocks in limited minutes.
The block was the difference in the match as CU put up 23 total, the most since Nov. 18, 2018 when Naghede Abu set the CU single game record with 17 block assists. CU only committed 19 errors in five sets, including zero in the fifth, while DU committed 33 leading to a .291 to .143 hitting percentage difference.
The Buffaloes will stay in Boulder next week awaiting their matchups against No.17-ranked Illinois on Saturday, September 3rd at 2:30 p.m and Iowa on Sunday, September 4th at 1:30 p.m.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
SET ONE: Colorado came out of the gates fast with a 6-2 lead with half of its points coming from blocks. A three-point scoring run by the Buffs resulted in a 13-8 lead and a Denver timeout. At the break, CU was outhitting the Pioneers .400 to .000. Colorado led by eight points at 16-8 after racking up three more points. Kuehl’s second kill of the match gave the Buffs a 21-12 lead later in the set. Parker and Hart combined for an emphatic block to give CU set point. Hart then finished things off with a floater over…
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