Buffs Wind Up Wildcats, Win in Five

TUCSON, Ariz. – The Colorado volleyball team (10-8, 3-3 Big 12) defeated the Arizona Wildcats in five sets (15-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-27, 18-16) at McKale Center on Wednesday night.

In its first win against Arizona on the road since Nov. 23, 2022, Colorado took a tough first set loss before coming back and winning sets two and three. The last two sets were tight, with Arizona just barely coming away with the fourth, 28-26. The Buffs were down in the fifth to start but fought off a Wildcat match-point and finally took it, 18-16.

This is the Buffs ninth five-setter of the season and sixth five-set win. Fifty percent of the Buffs' matched this season have been five set matches.

"[Going to five sets] shows that we can be really competitive," head coach Jesse Mahoney said after the match. "We're a team that's good and on the edge of being really good at times. We have to find a way to play at a more even pace, we're a little all over the place sometimes. I'm glad that we can compete and certainly glad that we can win in five, but there's a way for us to play at that level more often and we have to grow into that."

CU had zero errors in the fifth set (hitting .429) and extended its win streak to three. The Buffs also out-aced (8-7) and out-hit (.252-.228) Arizona, the 13th and eighth time doing so against opponents this season, respectively. The Wildcats were averaging 47% in system on the season, but the Buffs held them to 28% on the night.

KEY PLAYERS:

Jr. DS/L Sarah Morton picked up her 1,000th career dig with her 13th dig of the night and reached 21 total, her fifth match with 20 or more digs. Morton recorded 773 digs at Auburn and has now reached 235 at CU.
Mahoney on Morton's contributions: "She had some really momentum changing digs for us. She's come in and done a nice job of figuring out how we do things here, what our system is. She has a really talented platform and is a really competitive kid. It's been fun to see her get more comfortable with what she's doing, and then play better and with a little bit more freedom. We're excited she's on our team."
So. OPP Lily Dwinell reached a career high 20 kills (4e, 45att, hitting .356), two digs and two blocks. This is Dwinell's eighth match this season with double-digit kills and ninth with points (21.0).
Mahoney on Dwinell's contributions: "She was really good in sets two through five. Taking the ball high, making good choices, some off-speed stuff. I thought it was a really great match for her."
So. OH Sydney Jordan had her sixth double-double of both career and season with 16 kills (2e, 35att, hitting .400) and 16 digs (digging 67%). This is her 12th match with double-digit kills, seventh for double-digit digs and double-digit 13th for points. She also had three aces and two blocks.
Sr. S Taylor Simpson had her third double-double of the season, seventh of her career, with 52 assists and 13 digs (digging 64%). This is her third match this season with double figure digs.
So. OH Ana Burilovic also had 16 kills, her 15th match with double-digit kills and points (20.0). She also had three blocks (one solo) and two aces.
So. MB Cayla Payne had eight kills for the Buffs and three blocks. Both So. DS/L Avery Bolles and Fr. DS/L Katie Salonga had an ace each.
For the Wildcats, Carlie Cisneros had 19 kills and Avery Scoggins had 19 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Buffs went on a 3-0 run early in set one, but the Wildcats kept most of the momentum in the first set. After a 6-1 Arizona run, CU saw kills from Payne and Burilovic to keep them in it (9-7, Arizona). The Buffs recorded kills from Dwinell and Jordan as well, but two 4-0 runs from the Wildcats gave them set one, 25-15.
After a back and forth start in set two, the Buffs scored six-straight with kills from Jordan, Dwinell, Simkus and Burilovic, as well as a Simkus-Dwinell block (13-8). Arizona clawed back, managing to come within two (14-12, CU), but Colorado scored another five-straight off back-to-back aces from Burilovic (22-14). The Buffs put set two away, 25-17, on a Dwinell kill.
Two 3-0 runs put the Buffs up early in set three, 9-5, with kills from Jordan and an ace from Bolles. Colorado saw more kills from Dwinell, and the two teams traded points back and forth (18-16, CU). The Black and Gold went on another 3-0 run to solidify its lead, 21-16, and closed out the set on a Jordan kill (25-21).
Colorado was down early in set four as Arizona scored four-straight to start. Down by as many as seven (18-11, Arizona), the Buffs made a daring comeback late in the fourth set, started by a Jordan kill and a Salonga ace. CU scored six unanswered points in set four to take its first lead of the set off two Dwinell kills, a Jordan ace and a Burilovic-Simkus block (21-20). The teams then exchanged 3-0 runs, the Buffs' including two Burilovic kills and one Dwinell kill. CU managed to reach match-point and fought off one Arizona set-point and fell narrowly as the Wildcats forced a fifth set, 27-25.
Mahoney on set four: "The second half of that set was probably some of the best volleyball we played even though we lost the set. We gave ourselves the opportunity to win, and I think we had some good momentum going into the fifth set."
The Wildcats kept the Buffs on their toes in set five, going on 3-0 run to take a four-point lead (11-7, Arizona). CU answered with its own 3-0 run off a Payne kill, Jordan kill and Payne-Dwinell block (11-10). The teams traded points to finish the set, going past 15s, and the Buffs had a gritty performance against the host team. A kill from Jordan and a Burilovic solo block forced match-point and in turn an Arizona timeout (16-15, CU). A Burilovic kill and Wildcat attack error sealed the deal, and the Buffs took the match on an 18-16 fifth set victory.

UP NEXT:

CU wraps up its road trip with No. 13 Arizona State this Friday at Mullett Arena in Tempe, Ariz. First serve against the Sun Devils is set for 8 p.m. MDT/7 p.m. MST on Oct. 18. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+, and links to watch the match are available at CUBuffs.com.
Coach Mahoney on Arizona State: "We played Kansas earlier [this season] – they're really good and really in system, and Arizona State is even more in system, and they run things really fast. Only having a day to truly prepare is going to be a challenge for us, especially when we don't want to jump a lot the day in between. But we'll watch film and have a game plan going. They're really good and we're going to have to work hard to get them out of system because that's the only way we're going to have success against them."

MATCH NOTES:

Colorado improves to 12-14 all-time against Arizona and 6-3 in five-set matches this season.
This is CU's third win in a row, matching the long match win streak from earlier this season.
Jr. DS/L Sarah Morton reached her 1,000th career dig against the Wildcats.

Under ninth-year head coach Jesse Mahoney, Colorado earned a winning record in the 2023 season (16-15) and went 8-12 against Pac-12 opponents. A significant win for the Buffs took place against 17th-ranked Arizona State last year. The Buffs took down the Sun Devils in three sets, completing the sweep and earning CU's only win against a ranked opponent in the 2023 season. Colorado also swept Arizona (Oct. 20) and Washington (Nov. 19) and finished seventh in the Pac-12.

For more information on the Colorado volleyball team, please visit cubuffs.com/vb. Fans of the Buffs can follow @cubuffsvb on Instagram, X, and Facebook.

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Team Stats

Lily Dwinell

Sydney Jordan

Ana Burilović

Cayla Payne

Players Mentioned

Avery Bolles

Lily Dwinell

Sydney Jordan

Sarah Morton

Cayla Payne

Katie Salonga

Taylor Simpson

Players Mentioned

Avery Bolles

Lily Dwinell

Sydney Jordan

Sarah Morton

Cayla Payne

Katie Salonga

Taylor Simpson