BOULDER – The Colorado women’s volleyball team played Air Force in their first spring scrimmage of the year at the CU Events Center Saturday morning.
The two squads started the day by competing against one another in various “mini-game” drills before playing three sets to 25 points.
“The most important thing we got out of today was playing somebody else,” head coach Jesse Mahoney commented. “It’s a little bit of a new environment for us even though we played at home. We haven’t had a whistle blow in a while, so creating some anxiety and pressure was good for us. Now we can manage that moving forward.”
Colorado added three new Buffs at the beginning of the semester, including first years Sydney Jordan and Avery Bolles, along with graduate transfer Skyy Howard. The scrimmage gave them a chance to play in a CU jersey for the first time.
“It’s been really cool to finally play in this gym in front of my family and in front of people,” Jordan said. “I feel like it was a really good learning experience as a team.
The outside hitter from Houston, Texas also commented that the spring game gave her a chance to showcase what she’s been working on for the last two months.
“I’m trying to hit the way that they’ve taught me to hit. They’ve kind of reformed my arm swing and I’m trying to use that,” Jordan said.
For Bolles, a libero from Andover, Minn., the scrimmage allowed her to get some nerves out of her system and grow more comfortable playing with the people around her.
“[Playing] felt great, but I was really nervous,” Bolles said. “Once I got on the court though, the whole team supported me. In practice, I’ve been working a lot on changing my form by having my arms angle away from my body and not swinging as I pass. I think that transferred pretty well to today. I didn’t get aced at all, so I was happy about that.”
Howard, a graduate transfer from the University of North Carolina, said she felt a sense of ease with the team already.
“It felt great and I’m so excited. I already feel like I’ve been here for years,” the middle blocker commented. “I think I started off a little rough [today]. I was hitting low on the net a little bit, but I definitely got more comfortable and started swinging how I’m supposed to.”
“I thought all three players did a really nice job,” Mahoney said. “With Skyy, you can certainly see what she’s…
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