Colorado University Athletics
Wednesday, October 30
Fort Worth, Texas
5:30 PM
Colorado
at
#18 TCU
Buffs Set to Round Up No. 18 Horned Frogs and No. 17 Bears
October 29, 2024 | Volleyball
Colorado will go on the road to take on TCU for the first time in program history and Baylor for the 34th
BOULDER – The Colorado volleyball team (10-11, 3-6 Big 12) travels to Texas this week for the second time this season to take on No. 18 TCU (10-11, 3-6 Big 12) and No. 17 Baylor (14-5, 6-3 Big 12).
The Buffs will go head-to-head with the Horned Frogs at Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, Texas on Oct. 30 at 5:30 p.m. MT and battle the Bears at Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas on Nov. 1 at 6 p.m. MT. This is CU's inaugural match up with TCU and its 34th time playing Baylor, having last met the Bears in 2017 for a sweep (Dec. 2).
Colorado came up short at home last week, dropping both matches against West Virginia and then 21st-ranked BYU in four sets. The Buffs, however, were nothing short of resilient and saw some key performances in clutch time. Freshman middle blocker Maria Splawska saw her first action for the Buffs, starting in set two against the Cougars, and recorded four blocks, three kills and two digs in her first outing. Junior libero Emilea Stepaniuk had a career-high 12 digs for CU against West Virginia, and senior setter Taylor Simpson had a double-double with 30 assists and 12 digs.
THIS WEEK
MATCH #1 • Wednesday, October 30 • 5:30 p.m. MT
Colorado (10-11, 3-6 Big 12) vs. No. 18 TCU (14-5, 6-3 Big 12)
Schollmaier Arena • Fort Worth, Texas
SERIES RECORD: First Meeting
TV: ESPN+
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoFrogs.com
MATCH #2 • Friday, November 1 • 6 p.m. MT
Colorado (10-11, 3-6 Big 12) vs. No. 17 Baylor (13-6, 6-3 Big 12)
Ferrell Center • Waco, Texas
SERIES RECORD: 23-10, CU Leads
LAST MEETING: W, 3-0 (December 2, 2017 • Waco, Texas)
STREAK: Won 2 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 2-8
TV: ESPN+
OPPONENT WEBSITE: BaylorBears.com
FIRST SERVE (TL;DR)
HELLO, HORNED FROGS: This will be the inaugural meeting between the Buffs and the 18th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs. This is the third time this season Colorado will meet an opponent for the first time, the first being the Miami Hurricanes in the first tournament of nonconference play, the North Texas Invite (Aug. 31), and the second being last week against the West Virginia Mountaineers.
DA BEARS: Colorado will face No. 17 Baylor for the 34th time in program history. The last time the Buffs met the Bears was Dec. 2, 2017, in Waco, Texas, and CU registered a sweep over Baylor. The Black and Gold have won the last two meetings with the Bears and have 23 wins all-time against Baylor. Between Nov. 11, 2000, and Nov. 22, 2006, the Buffs won 13 matches in a row, creating the longest win streak between the two teams.
TEAM EFFORT: CU has out-killed the opponent in six matches, out-dug in five matches, out-aced in 14 matches, out-hit in eight matches and out-blocked in seven matches. The Buffs have also had seven matches with double-digit team blocks.
MILESTONE WATCH: So. DS/L Avery Bolles has 78 career aces, 22 away from 100, and 177 career digs, 23 away from 100. So. OPP Lily Dwinell has 81 career digs, 19 away from 100, and 382 kills, 18 away from 400. So. OH Ana Burilovic has 391 kills, nine away from 400. So. MB Cayla Payne has 97.0 blocks on the season, three away from 100, and she has 298 career kills, two away from 300.
MILESTONE CHECK: Sr. MB Bella Simkus notched her 50th block of the season against West Virginia (Oct. 23), bringing her career total to 62. So. OH Sydney Jordan reached 200 career digs against West Virginia and now had 208. Jr. DS/L Sarah Morton recorded her 250th dig against BYU (Oct. 25).
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.
The Buffs will go head-to-head with the Horned Frogs at Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, Texas on Oct. 30 at 5:30 p.m. MT and battle the Bears at Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas on Nov. 1 at 6 p.m. MT. This is CU's inaugural match up with TCU and its 34th time playing Baylor, having last met the Bears in 2017 for a sweep (Dec. 2).
Colorado came up short at home last week, dropping both matches against West Virginia and then 21st-ranked BYU in four sets. The Buffs, however, were nothing short of resilient and saw some key performances in clutch time. Freshman middle blocker Maria Splawska saw her first action for the Buffs, starting in set two against the Cougars, and recorded four blocks, three kills and two digs in her first outing. Junior libero Emilea Stepaniuk had a career-high 12 digs for CU against West Virginia, and senior setter Taylor Simpson had a double-double with 30 assists and 12 digs.
THIS WEEK
MATCH #1 • Wednesday, October 30 • 5:30 p.m. MT
Colorado (10-11, 3-6 Big 12) vs. No. 18 TCU (14-5, 6-3 Big 12)
Schollmaier Arena • Fort Worth, Texas
SERIES RECORD: First Meeting
TV: ESPN+
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoFrogs.com
MATCH #2 • Friday, November 1 • 6 p.m. MT
Colorado (10-11, 3-6 Big 12) vs. No. 17 Baylor (13-6, 6-3 Big 12)
Ferrell Center • Waco, Texas
SERIES RECORD: 23-10, CU Leads
LAST MEETING: W, 3-0 (December 2, 2017 • Waco, Texas)
STREAK: Won 2 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 2-8
TV: ESPN+
OPPONENT WEBSITE: BaylorBears.com
FIRST SERVE (TL;DR)
- CU is led by ninth-year head coach Jesse Mahoney, who has led the Buffs to a 138-120 (.535) record as CU's fifth head volleyball coach. Coach Mahoney has been extended through 2027 and has led the Buffs to three NCAA appearances.
- For the first time since the 2010 season, Colorado is playing volleyball in the Big 12 Conference. The Buffs are 149-160 (.482) all-time in Big 12 conference play.
- Fr. MB Maria Splawska saw her first action for the Buffs against BYU on Friday night (Oct. 25), logging three kills (1e, 7att) and four blocks in her outing. So. MB Cayla Payne saw nine kills and nine blocks (one solo) for Colorado against the Cougars.
- Jr. DS/L Emilea Stepaniuk registered a career-high 12 digs against West Virginia (Oct. 23), and Jr. DS/L Sarah Morton had her 13th match with double-digit digs (11) against BYU (Oct. 25).
- So. OH Kendall Meller came in clutch against BYU as well with five kills and and seven blocks (Oct. 25), and So. OPP Lily Dwinell had 12 kills and four blocks against West Virginia (Oct. 23)
- Sr. S Taylor Simpson had her fourth double-double of the season (eighth of her career) against West Virginia with 30 assists and 12 digs.
- On the service line, not only has Colorado out-aced the opponent in nine wins, but it has also registered more aces than 15 opponents overall.
HELLO, HORNED FROGS: This will be the inaugural meeting between the Buffs and the 18th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs. This is the third time this season Colorado will meet an opponent for the first time, the first being the Miami Hurricanes in the first tournament of nonconference play, the North Texas Invite (Aug. 31), and the second being last week against the West Virginia Mountaineers.
DA BEARS: Colorado will face No. 17 Baylor for the 34th time in program history. The last time the Buffs met the Bears was Dec. 2, 2017, in Waco, Texas, and CU registered a sweep over Baylor. The Black and Gold have won the last two meetings with the Bears and have 23 wins all-time against Baylor. Between Nov. 11, 2000, and Nov. 22, 2006, the Buffs won 13 matches in a row, creating the longest win streak between the two teams.
TEAM EFFORT: CU has out-killed the opponent in six matches, out-dug in five matches, out-aced in 14 matches, out-hit in eight matches and out-blocked in seven matches. The Buffs have also had seven matches with double-digit team blocks.
MILESTONE WATCH: So. DS/L Avery Bolles has 78 career aces, 22 away from 100, and 177 career digs, 23 away from 100. So. OPP Lily Dwinell has 81 career digs, 19 away from 100, and 382 kills, 18 away from 400. So. OH Ana Burilovic has 391 kills, nine away from 400. So. MB Cayla Payne has 97.0 blocks on the season, three away from 100, and she has 298 career kills, two away from 300.
MILESTONE CHECK: Sr. MB Bella Simkus notched her 50th block of the season against West Virginia (Oct. 23), bringing her career total to 62. So. OH Sydney Jordan reached 200 career digs against West Virginia and now had 208. Jr. DS/L Sarah Morton recorded her 250th dig against BYU (Oct. 25).
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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