Buffs Dominate Bearcats for Sweep

Saturday, November 9

Boulder, Colo.

12 PM

Colorado

11-14,4-9Big 12

Cincinnati

13-10,4-8Big 12

Cincinnati

Colorado

November 09, 2024 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

Sophomore outside hitters Ana Burilovic and Lily Dwinell led the Buffs with double-digit kills and points

By: Malala Pyle, Assistant Director of Athletic Communication

BOULDER – The Colorado volleyball team (11-14, 4-9 Big 12) defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats (13-10, 4-8 Big 12) in three sets (25-20, 25-18, 25-21) at CU Events Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Buffs played point-for-point throughout the beginning of the sets, but Cincinnati could not respond to Colorado's dominant offense. In the end, Colorado beat the Bearcats, 3-0.

"Great to get a win, especially in three. You don't see that very often in conference play," head coach Jese Mahoney said. "I thought we were really good tonight in a lot of areas. We passed extremely well. We served extremely well when we weren't making service errors, but were aggressive in that field, which was good. I thought Taylor Simpson did a great job moving the ball around, and we got a lot of production all over the front line. So, feels good to get a win."

The Buffs served the Bearcats out of system on 70% of its serves and held Cincinnati to a .075 hitting percentage with seven team blocks.

"When I go to serve, I always think I'm going to ace," sophomore outside hitter Ana Burilovic said. "I really wanted to end this game in three sets because a sweep is something you don't see every day, and I think we really needed that. I was just in a mindset of I'm going to get every ball, we're going to get every ball up […] And we did. We managed to win."

KEY PLAYERS:

So. OH Ana Burilovic earned the Buffs 16 points with 14 kills (3e, 27att, hitting .407), making this her 20th match with double-digit points and kills. She also had nine digs and served the Bearcats out of system on 70% of her serves.
So. OH Lily Dwinell had her 12th match with double-digit kills and 13th match with double-digit points. She earned the Buffs 11.5 points with 10 kills (2e, 19att, hitting .421), and had two blocks (one solo)
So. MB Cayla Payne had the most blocks of the match with four. She also had six kills and a dig.
Sr. S Taylor Simpson led the match with 33 assists. She also had three kills, seven digs (69% dig percentage), two blocks and one ace (served the Bearcats 88% out of system).
So. OH Sydney Jordan ended the match with eight kills and nine points for the Buffs. She also had two blocks and four digs and served Cincinnati out of system on 83% of her serves.
Jr. DS/L Sarah Morton had 10 digs (her 15th match of the season with double-digit digs) and an ace, and Jr. DS/L Emilea Stepaniuk had four digs.
For the Bearcats, Sydney Nolan and Carly Glendinning each had eight kills. Katelyn Lefler had 15 digs and three kills (hitting .600).

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Buffs and Bearcats began the first set point-for-point, with kills from Sr. MB Bella Simkus and Dwinell keeping Cincinnati on their toes. The Buffs lead over the Bearcats started warming up with Burilovic's attack, launching Colorado's first 4-0 run of the game, featuring an ace from Morton and a Burilovic-Payne block (11-9, CU). Another Burilovic kill brought the Black and Gold to their second run of the night, followed by an unstoppable partner block from Payne and Simpson (15-11, CU). Kills from Payne and Dwinell brought the heat for Colorado (19-14, CU), while Dwinell's attack halted a Cincinnati run (21-19, CU). Colorado drafted and elected sophomore setter Rian Finley and sophomore outside hitter Kendall Meller to finish the set. Back-to-back kills from Burilovic and Jordan pushed the Buffs to set point, with Jordan's final kill sealing it for Colorado (25-20, CU). Burilovic hit .600 in the first set, with six kills for the Buffs.
Cincinnati was ready to respond in the second set, but a kill from Dwinell quickly put a stop to their momentum (1-1, CU). The two teams traded points early on, but the Buffaloes pushed through for their first 5-0 run of the match (10-5, CU). Colorado saw key kills from Dwinell (12-7, CU), Payne (15-11, CU) and Jordan to maintain a Black and Gold lead (16-13, CU). An ace from Simpson (17-13, CU) and back-to-back kills from Dwinell and Burilovic warded off a strong opposition from the Bearcats (20-15, CU). A powerful block from Payne and Jordan secured the set for Colorado once again, 25-18.
The Black and Gold opened the third set strong with a kill from Burilovic (1-0, CU). Cincinnati responded with a 4-0 run but kills from Burilovic and Payne kept Colorado in the game (6-5, UC). Dwinell's solo block brought back the momentum for Colorado, sparking a 4-0 run and forcing Cincinnati into a timeout (12-11, UC). The Buffaloes regained the lead with their first 6-0 run of the night, seeing kills from Jordan and Payne as well as a Payne-Simpson block (20-17, CU). A final 4-0 run sealed the set with Colorado taking the game, 25-21.

UP NEXT:

The Buffs have one quick road match next week at Iowa State on Wednesday. First serve against the Cyclones is set for 5 p.m. MT on Nov. 13. The matches will be broadcast on ESPN+ and links to watch are available at CUBuffs.com.
Coach Mahoney on Iowa State: "This is going to be really good for our confidence. We've had a rough stretch in the win-loss column, but I think we've done a really nice job of being in the right headspace and practicing well and buying into what we want to do. When we do all those things and you get rewarded, you're going to feel better about it. We're going to take a day off, and then we'll have a really good prep day for Iowa State. They're going to be good on their own floor, but I think we know if we do the right things, we're going to be competitive with anyone."

MATCH NOTES:

The Buffs move to 2-0 against the Bearcats all-time.
Colorado moves to 4-4 in three-set matches.
This is the second lowest hitting percentage the Buffs have held an opponent to at .075. The only lower hitting percentage was against Rutgers earlier this season (Sept. 1).

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.