Buffs Race Red Raiders, Earn Five-Set Victory

BOULDER – The Colorado volleyball team (8-8, 1-3 Big 12) defeated the Texas Tech Red Raiders in five sets (21-25, 25-19, 25-19, 10-25, 15-9) at CU Events Center on Saturday night.

In the teams' first meeting since 2021, CU took sets two and three by six points each. Texas Tech took set one and forced set five with a handy set four win. In a race to the finish, the Buffs stampeded through set five, not allowing the Raiders to score double-digits, and took the match with a set five win, 15-9.

"I'm certainly happy to get the win," head coach Jesse Mahoney said. "I thought, like several of our last matches, we played really good volleyball for stretches, and then found a way to play not as optimal for stretches. […] We executed when we had to, and now we just have to get to a mindset where we're executing all the time regardless of the situation. But like I said, good to get in the win column."

CU had three players in double-digit digs, double-digit blocks as a team and a higher hitting percentage than Texas Tech.

KEY PLAYERS:

So. OPP Lily Dwinell had a career-high 16 kills (4e, 32att, hitting .375), a 50% kill percentage and nine blocks. This marks her sixth match of the season in double-digits for both kills and points (20.5).
Dwinell on her performance: "I felt good. I felt like I haven't really played my best this season, and really have been working on my blocking because it's one of my biggest responsibilities. Just making sure I'm early and trying to be as effective as I can offensively and going after the ball."
So. OH Sydney Jordan recorded her fourth double-double of her career and of the season with 11 kills and 13 digs. This is her 10th match with double-digit kills, fifth for double figure digs and 11th for points (13.5). She also had three assists and career-high four blocks (one solo).
Jordan on her performance: "I think in this game, there [were] definitely a lot of ups and downs. There [were] ups and downs for me personally. Just resetting and knowing that we can only control the things that happen on our side of the net. Making the right shots really helped me start to get back in the swing of things."
Sr. S Taylor Simpson recorded her second double-double of the season, sixth of her career, with 36 assists and 10 digs. She also had a 70% dig percentage.
So. OH Ana Burilovic finished with six kills, six digs and two blocks. She also recorded a career-high in assists with three.
Jr. DS/L Sarah Morton had her 10th match with double-digit digs with 21. She also had a 75% dig percentage and served the Raiders out of system on 80% of her serves.
So. MB Cayla Payne reached five kills and matched her career-high in blocks with nine, and So. DS/L Avery Bolles served the opponent out of system 73% of the time.
Fr. DS/L/S Katie Salonga had the opponent out of system on 92% of her serves and an ace, and Sr. MB Bella Simkus had seven kills (1e, 11att, hitting .545) and a 67% kill percentage.
For the Red Raiders, Brynn Williams had 14 kills and Maddie Correa had 14 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Buffs matched the Raiders point for point in the first set until CU went on a 3-0 run to take a 12-9 lead. The Red Raiders answered back with a 4-0 run, but the Buffs prevailed with a 3-0 run with a solo block from Jordan to tie it back up (16-16). Texas Tech went on another 4-0 run and a 3-0 run to take a big lead (23-18). Despite kills from Simkus, Jordan and Dwinell, the Raiders took set one, 25-21.

After a Texas Tech 4-0 run to start the second set, Colorado played catch-up and came within one on a 3-0 run with kills from Dwinell and Payne, as well as an ace by Bolles. After pressure from both teams, the Buffs came out on top on another 3-0 run with two kills from Jordan, earning an additional 4-0 run soon after, with kills from Burilovic and Jordan (21-17). Following a few point-for-point plays, Colorado managed an additional 3-0 run to take the set, 25-19.
The Red Raiders started the third set strong but were immediately met by a powerful response from the Buffaloes. After a 3-0 run from Texas Tech, the Buffs answered with a 4-0 run, including two Simkus-Dwinell blocks, tying the game 12-12. The Red Raiders responded with a kill to start a point-for-point series between both teams, but multiple kills from Burilovic and blocks from Payne led the Buffs to another 3-0 run to gain the Buff's momentum that brought them to a 25-19 victory in the third set.
Texas Tech responded to the Buffs takeover with a strong start to the fourth set. Colorado was unable to respond to multiple runs from the Raiders right out of the gate, but kills from Payne and Dwinell, as well as a service ace from Salonga kept the Buffs in the game. In the end, strong attacks from the Red Raiders led Texas Tech to take the fourth set, 25-10.
The Buffs were ready to answer in the fifth set, taking the first point with a kill from Jordan and continuing to match Texas Tech's efforts. Kills by Dwinell and Jordan maintained a Buffs lead with a 4-0 run for Colorado (9-7). After a kill from the Red Raiders, the Buffs brought back the energy with another 3-0 run with two kills from Dwinell. A final 3-0 run led the Buffs to a fifth set victory, including a .389 hitting percentage throughout the set (15-9).

UP NEXT:

CU is back on the road next week with one match against UCF at The Venue in Orlando, Fla. First serve against the Knights is set for 5 p.m. MT on Wednesday, Oct. 9. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+, and links to watch the match are available at CUBuffs.com.

MATCH NOTES:

Colorado moves to 28-5 all-time against Texas Tech and 4-3 in five-set matches this season.
This win extends CU's win streak against Texas Tech to three.

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

Bella Simkus

Ana Burilović

Players Mentioned

Avery Bolles

Lily Dwinell

Sydney Jordan

Sarah Morton

Cayla Payne

Katie Salonga

Bella Simkus

Taylor Simpson

Players Mentioned

Avery Bolles

Lily Dwinell

Sydney Jordan

Sarah Morton

Cayla Payne

Katie Salonga

Bella Simkus

Taylor Simpson