Buffs Fall to No. 17 Bears in Three

WACO, Texas – The Colorado volleyball team (10-13, 3-8 Big 12) fell to the 17th-ranked Baylor Bears (15-6, 7-3 Big 12) in three sets (24-26, 16-25, 20-25) at Ferrell Center on Friday night.

The Buffs competed in the first set, nearly coming back to win it, and held the lead for much of set three. Baylor fought hard to complete the sweep over Colorado but managed to do so.

Colorado saw significant contributions from both international players, sophomore outside hitter Ana Burilovic and freshman middle blocker Maria Splawska, combining for 13 kills, nine digs and three blocks (two solo). The Black and Gold served the opponent out of system on 72% of its serves.

KEY PLAYERS:

So. OH Ana Burilovic had her fifth match this season with double-digit digs (10) along with nine kills (3e, 27att). She also served the opponent out of system on 80% of her serves.
Sr. MB Bella Simkus led the Buffs in hitting percentage with .750, zero errors, and she had three kills and one block.
So. MB Cayla Payne had six kills, and So. OPP Lily Dwinell had four kills, one dig and two blocks (one solo).
Sr. S Taylor Simpson set for 24 kills and had three digs and a block.
Jr. DS/L Sarah Morton had nine digs and an ace for the Black and Gold. She served the opponent out of system 73% of the time.
So. DS/L Avery Bolles had two aces for CU, and Fr. MB Maria Splawska had four kills (1e, 8att) and two blocks (one solo).
Sr. DS/L Emilea Stepaniuk had seven digs and served the opponent out of system 83% of the time.
So. OH Sydney Jordan recorded eight digs, two aces, five kills and one block (solo). She also served Baylor out of system on 82% of her serves.
For the Bears, Elise McGhee had 24 kills and Victoria Davis had six blocks.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Buffs were at the Bears heels all of set one, not allowing a run and serving up one of their own with kills from Payne and Burilovic and an ace from Morton (11-10, CU). The two teams referred to each other and continued to trade points throughout the first set, with CU seeing kills from Dwinell and Simkus (19-19). A kill from Jordan put Colorado at set point, but Baylor scored three-straight to take set one, 26-24.
CU scored right off the bat in set two with a Simkus-Dwinell block and a Jordan ace to start. The Bears responded by scoring four-straight, but the Buffs weren't phased, putting together a 3-0 run of their own with kills from Payne and Jordan and staying within one (14-13, BU). Baylor took a meaty lead with a 4-0 and a 3-0 run, separated by a Burilovic kill, and took the second set, 25-16.
Colorado capitalized on Baylor errors early and scored five-straight off kills from Simpson and Jordan, a Splawska-Simpson block and a Bolles ace (7-3, CU). Splawska put on a show in the third, forming her own 3-0 run off two kills and a solo block (11-6 CU). Despite aces from Jordan and Bolles and more kills from Splawska, Payne and Dwinell, the Bears managed to come back and take the match in the third set, 25-20.

UP NEXT:

Colorado goes back to Boulder for two home matches against currently 22nd-ranked Utah on Wednesday and Cincinnati on Saturday. First serve against the Utes is set for 7 p.m. MT on Nov. 6 and versus the Bearcats at 12 p.m. MT on Nov. 9. The matches will be broadcast on ESPN+ and links to watch are available at CUBuffs.com.

MATCH NOTES:

The Buffs move to 23-11 against the Bears all-time.
This is the Buffs' sixth match against a ranked opponent this season, all six being conference opponents.

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

Ana Burilović

Cayla Payne

Sydney Jordan

Lily Dwinell

Players Mentioned

Avery Bolles

Lily Dwinell

Sydney Jordan

Sarah Morton

Cayla Payne

Bella Simkus

Taylor Simpson

Emilea Stepaniuk

Players Mentioned

Avery Bolles

Lily Dwinell

Sydney Jordan

Sarah Morton

Cayla Payne

Bella Simkus

Taylor Simpson

Emilea Stepaniuk