Colorado
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Kansas
No. 23 Spikers Fall to KU in Five
September 24, 2002 | Volleyball
The No. 23 University of Colorado Buffaloes (8-5, 2-1 Big 12) fell to the Kansas University Jayhawks (10-1, 2-1 Big 12) 30-19, 21-30, 31-29, 28-30, 13-15 Wednesday night here at the Coors Events/Conference Center to end a six match unbeaten streak and a five match winning streak at home.
"Kansas is a good team, and we're not as good as people think we are," Colorado head coach Pi'i Aiu said. "All of a sudden we get ranked, and the players start to strut around. We're just not good enough to strut around. We need to win by scrapping and working hard."
The Buffs came out of the gates in a fury, hitting .417 in game one to the Jayhawks' .054 mark. The Buffs weren't able to maintain the consistent intensity, though, as they hit .031 in game two, .217 in a tight game three victory, .075 in game four, and .056 in the deciding game five. Colorado ended the evening with a season-low .156 hitting percentage, while Kansas hit .174 on the night.
"We came out really strong, but Kansas is a team that you can't afford to play weak against," junior middle blocker Monique Gerlach said. "And that's just what we did."
Gerlach, this week's Big 12 Player of the Week, finished the match hitting .205 with a team-high 187 kills and seven blocks. Gerlach has fueled the Buffs on offense in 2002 as she has led the team in kills in seven of 13 matches and has tallied double-figures in 10. Senior middle Meghan Barkman also tallied double-figures with 14 kills while she led the team with eight blocks, and senior left side hitter Kim Taskey also joined the double-figure Buff Club with 11 kills. Senior setter Elizabeth Gower tied a career-high with seven blocks, in the Buffaloes' loss.
Colorado had 17 team blocks in the match to Kansas' 13. Josiane Lima paced the Jayhawks with a match-high 19 kills on the night, while Ashley Michaels tallied 17 and Sarah Rome grabbed 10.
The Buffs conclude their present home-stand Saturday when they host Missouri on Saturday night, Sept. 28, at 7 p.m. at the Coors Events/Conference Center in Boulder. First serve is slated for 7 p.m.
