No. 24 Colorado Bests West Virginia in Five-Set Thriller

Saturday, October 18

Boulder, Colo.

12 PM

Colorado

16-3,7-1Big 12

West Virginia

13-6,1-6Big 12

West Virginia

Colorado

No. 24 Colorado Bests West Virginia in Five-Set Thriller

October 18, 2025 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Get Tickets Donate to the Volleyball Team

By: Malala Pyle, Assistant Director of Athletic Communication

BOULDER – The 24th-ranked Colorado volleyball team (16-3, 7-1 Big 12) defeated West Virginia (13-6, 1-6 Big 12) in five sets (19-25, 25-20, 19-25, 25-19, 15-8) at CU Events Center on Saturday, Oct. 18.

The Colorado Buffaloes played a five-set thriller against the West Virginia Mountaineers, taking the second, fourth and fifth sets. After going down by eight in the first set, the Buffaloes found organization throughout the match and took the fifth set by seven.

"We snuck out of here with a win," head coach Jesse Mahoney said. "Back-to-back matches of us starting really slow. To our players' credit, I think they recovered, certainly offensively. In three of the next four sets, we hit the .300-.400 range, so we've got to figure out a way to not start as flat as we have been – that's on our staff more than anything else, but a lot of really good performances. Three or four players are hitting for really good numbers."

The Buffaloes out-hit (.267-.201) and out-blocked the Mountaineers (13-9). CU held West Virginia to .023 hitting in the fourth set.

"I keep telling our team, and everyone will listen, this league is really good," Mahoney said. "The teams that are in the bottom third are competing and beating teams in the top third. Lucky to get the win, but we made some of our own luck as well. We have to continue to progress in this season."

KEY PLAYERS:

Jr. PIN Ana Burilovic led the match in kills with 21, hitting .333 (4e, 51att), for her eighth match with 20 or more kills this season. She also recorded eight digs, two blocks and one ace.
Sr. S Rian Finley saw 31 assists, nine digs, one kill and one block.
So. MB Maria Splawska led the match with eight blocks, including one solo block. She also had five kills, hitting .333 (2e, 9att), four digs and two assists.
Jr. PIN Lily Dwinell recorded eight kills, hitting .389 (1e, 18att), three blocks and one dig.
Jr. PIN Sydney Jordan earned 12 kills, four assists, four digs, three blocks and one ace for the Buffs.
Jr. MB Cayla Payne scored 12 kills, hitting .391 (3e, 23att), and five blocks, including one solo block.
Sr. DS/L Sarah Morton recorded 12 digs and six assists.
Jr. DS/L Peyton Neal recorded five digs, one ace and one assist.
So. DS/L/S Katie Salonga saw four assists and three digs, and So. PIN Gwen Schiff earned two blocks for Colorado.
For the Mountaineers, Cassidy Tanton recorded 17 digs and 14 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

CU struggled to find a steady pace and went down 8-0 to start the first, but a big Dwinell swing down the line ended the Buffs' drought. Kills from Payne and Jordan helped CU regain ground (14-7, WVU). Colorado went on a 6-0 run with kills from Burilovic and a Dwinell-Splawska block to force a Mountaineer timeout (16-13, WVU). West Virginia went on another 4-0 run, stopped by a Payne kill (21-14, WVU). The Buffs managed another 3-0 run, but the Mountaineers took set one, 25-19.
The Buffs went on a 4-0 run in the second set off kills from Burilovic and Dwinell (4-0, CU). Both teams traded points, but CU stayed in the lead off two setter dumps from Finley and kills from Jordan and Splawska (14-9, CU). The Mountaineers tried to narrow the gap, but kills from the junior generation – Payne, Jordan and Burilovic – kept CU ahead (18-15, CU). A final four-point run from the Buffs, with two kills from Burilovic, saw the end of the second set (25-19, CU).
West Virginia went on an early 4-0 run, but CU clicked back into gear after a quick timeout, going on a 5-0 run of its own with kills from Jordan and blocks from Splawska (10-9, CU). Both teams exchanged 3-0 runs, with CU notching kills from Payne, Dwinell and Burilovic (16-14, CU). Colorado had a kill from Jordan, but a big push from the Mountaineers gave them the set, 25-19.
A kill from Burilovic and a Dwinell-Payne block opened scoring in the fourth set for the Buffs (4-3, CU). Back-to-back Payne-Burilovic blocks forced an early West Virginia timeout (7-4, CU). Colorado had two kills from Jordan and a Jordan-Splawska block to go on a 4-0 run (14-10, CU). The Mountaineers responded with a 3-0 of their own, but Colorado stayed ahead with a Splawska-Dwinell block and a kill from Burilovic (19-14, CU). Two big blocks from the Buffs wrapped up the set for CU, 25-19.
Colorado's energy was unmatched in set five, with the Buffs going on three 3-0 runs. Payne and Burilovic kills, and an ace from Neal helped the Buffs to go up, 5-3. Two more kills from Payne and Burilovic and a Payne solo block curated the second 3-0 run for CU (8-4, CU). Another two kills from Splawska and Burilovic, as well as back-to-back blocks from Splawska-Schiff and Splawska-Jordan, extended Colorado's lead, 13-6. CU took the match home with kills from Dwinell and Burilovic (15-8, CU).

UP NEXT

No. 24 Colorado will travel to Lubbock, Texas, for a match against Texas Tech on Wednesday, Oct. 22. First serve against the Raiders is set for 5 p.m. MT. The Buffs then return home to the CU Events Center on Saturday, Oct. 25, for their matchup against the Iowa State Cyclones at 1 p.m. MT. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+, and fans can follow along via live stats links on CUBuffs.com.

MATCH NOTES:

The Buffs move to 1-1 all-time against the Mountaineers.
The Buffaloes got their third 3-2 win of the season and are 3-0 in five-set matches.

For more information on the Colorado women's volleyball team, a complete schedule and results, please visit CUBuffs.com. Fans of the Buffs can follow the team on Instagram and on Twitter @CUBuffsVB.