Colorado
St. Peter's
Outsides Shine As Colorado Claims American Classic
August 27, 2005 | Volleyball
WASHINGTON, D.C. ? University of Colorado's outside hitting trio of Nicole Carr, Allie Griffin and Amber Sutherland combined for a sterling .519 hitting percentage allowing the Buffaloes to sweep American University, 30-22, 30-16, 30-26 in the championship match of the AU Classic, Saturday at Bender Arena. CU downed St. Peter's (N.J.) College in the opener, 30-11, 30-20, 30-23.
Carr had a match-high 17 kills and recorded her 27th career double-double, logging 10 digs. Sutherland hit .400 (15k-3e-30att) and sported career-highs with 15 kills and 13 digs en route to her first collegiate double-double.
All three earned a spot on the AU Classic All-Tournament team with Carr taking home MVP honors. It is Carr's second collegiate tournament MVP award as she was voted the top player at the 2003
“We're finally starting to click we are working well with each other,” Carr said. “We can really see each other on the court, which is helping a lot. Most of us have been playing two or three years together now and we're just maturing a lot and doing it together.”
Sutherland and
Sutherland, making her first career start, doubled her previous career high for kills (which was six) against Texas A&M last fall. Sutherland also led the team with a personal-best .625 hitting percentage, netting her 12 kills on just 16 attacks with only two errors.
“We felt we were working well as a team, it wasn't any individuals,” Sutherland said. “Everything just clicked offensively. From last year, I've definitely improved on my hitting. I can hit higher, I'm listening to the coaches and my teammates support helps all the time.”
As a freshman in 2004, Sutherland had just 25 kills over 19 games for the entire season. On Saturday, she had 27 kills in five games, tying
“She (Sutherland) is playing terrific,” head coach Pi'i Aiu said. “She has changed the fundamentals of her volleyball game right now. She's hitting balls high, she's hitting balls hard and she's playing really smart. She's had a great preseason and we just decided to give her a chance.”
Junior Lara Bossow had 11 kills and hit .474 (11k-2e-19att). Freshman Alex Buth had a strong collegiate debut with eight kills on 14 attacks with no errors (.571). Carr had 10 digs and three aces. Junior Ashley Nu'u had 45 assists, six digs and five kills.
“It felt great playing my first match in almost a year,” Buth said. “It's great to get out there and play volleyball again. I felt really comfortable and as I play more and more, I'm going to get better. I think all of the freshmen and sophomores did really well this weekend.”
The Buffaloes hit .336 (60k-18e-125att) and nearly doubled the Peahens in kills.
CU held St. Peter's to just 11 points in the first game, tying a team mark for the fewest points allowed in one game since the 30-point rally system began in 2001. The Buffs have held two other opponents to just 11 points in a game, the last against Cal State-Northridge in 2004.
Tara Teslaa led St. Peter's with seven kills. Alma Qose recorded a double-double with 20 assists and 13 digs.
“I think we did a real good job, this evening (against American) particularly.” Aiu said. “American is a pretty good team, they have some real good players. We did a really good job against them just staying steady, battling with them, separating when we had our chances and staying with them when they were playing well, not letting them get away from us.”
