Colorado Takes Down the Blue Devils With a School Record

BOULDER ? The University of Colorado (3-3) hit a school record .528 hitting percentage as the Buffs defeated Central Connecticut State University (3-2) 30-13, 30-13, 30-10, in the second day of the Colorado Invitational at the Coors Events Center on Friday night.

”I think out team did a really good job; we played really well,” head coach Pi'i Aiu said. “When you do nice things like that, you're going to hit high percentages. I think Central Connecticut had a little bit of a struggle tonight, so it was just kind of two forces meeting maybe. Central Connecticut had a really tough match early today. I think they are a scrappy team and they are a good team, but we played so well tonight that it was hard for them to get things going.

“This is the kind of match that will put you in a good position for the Big 12 for sure. It's a lot harder to play that match against a Nebraska, but certainly you have to do the things you have to do and did those things tonight.”

Senior Austin Zimmerman was on fire with 14 kills and hit .667. Sophomore Alex Buth had a great night with eight kills on 15 attacks while hitting .533. Junior Amber Sutherland recorded a match-high 16 kills and recorded 10 digs for her first double-double of the year. She also added a pair of assists, blocks and aces in the match.

“I think after Hawai'i we really learned a lot,” Zimmerman said. “We had some good practices and I think we are just going to keep getting better this year. For the most part coming into the game, we were really worried about what we were doing on our side of the net and getting everything done that we wanted to get done.”

The Buffaloes held CCSU to a negative hitting percentage at -.011. The Blue Devils recorded 18 kills with 19 errors on 89 swings. Colorado picked up 42 digs to CCSU's 16. The Buffs also put up 6.5 blocks to the Blue Devils 3.0.

Colorado was unstoppable in the first game. The Buffs took a demanding 17-6 lead with a 5-0 run that included a pair of aces from Gibson. CU held strong and extended its lead to 16 points to go ahead 24-8 in the match. The Buffs cruised to a 30-13 win in the game. Colorado hit a blistering .560 and held CCSU to a .034 attack percentage. The Buffs totaled just three hitting errors in the set, one coming off a CCSU block.

CU picked up right where it left off in the first game and took an 11-4 lead with a 7-0 run in the second game. Colorado continued to dominate, pulling out to a 24-9 advantage. The Buffs were on fire with 20 kills on 30 swings and just three errors, hitting .567. Gibson was perfect with six kills on six attacks. Zimmerman tallied five kills and hit .667 in the game.

The Buffaloes didn't let up in the final frame, taking a 13-5 lead. CU finished the game at 30-10. Sutherland recorded six kills in the game while hitting .556. The Buffs hit .471 in the game under the direction of freshman Kaitlyn Burkett. She totaled 14 assists, three digs, two blocks and one kill. Freshman Emilee Sisco and sophomore transfer Kelsey Loop made their Colorado debut in the game.

In early action at the Colorado Invitational, Southern Miss defeat CCSU 25-30, 30-18, 25-30, 30-21, 15-11. Ashley Petrinec recorded a match-high 18 kills for the Golden Eagles. Morgan Johnson added 13 kills and hit .571 to lead all hitters. USM recorded a .326 attack percentage. CCSU was led by Amanda Olmstead with 13 kills.

Southern Miss lost its second match of the day against Cincinnati 30-19, 30-17, 30-17. The Bearcats were led by Jenny Custer and Myanna Hellsten who each tallied 11 kills. Custer attacked at .526 and Hellsten hit .500. On a whole, the Bearcats hit .330. Morgan Johnson notched six kills to lead the Golden Eagles.

The final day of the Colorado Invitational is Saturday, Sept. 9. The day will start with Colorado hosting Southern Miss at 11 a.m. and will be followed by a contest between Central Connecticut State and Cincinnati at 1 p.m.

Colorado Takes Down the Blue Devils With a School Record

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Players Mentioned

Kaitlyn Burkett

Alex Buth

Kelsey Loop

Emilee Sisco

Amber Sutherland

Austin Zimmerman

Colorado Takes Down the Blue Devils With a School Record

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kaitlyn Burkett

Alex Buth

Kelsey Loop

Emilee Sisco

Amber Sutherland

Austin Zimmerman

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