No. 20 Colorado Falls to No. 13 Kansas in Four

Thursday, November 6

Lawrence, Kan.

5 PM

Colorado

20-4,10-2Big 12

#13 Kansas

18-8,9-3Big 12

Colorado

Kansas

November 06, 2025 | Volleyball

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By: Malala Pyle, Assistant Director of Athletic Communication

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The 20th-ranked Colorado volleyball team (20-4, 10-2 Big 12) fell to No. 13 Kansas (18-8, 9-3 Big 12) in four sets (20-25, 15-25, 28-26, 19-25) at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena on Thursday, Nov. 6.

The Buffs played a competitive third set, pushing to extra points and winning 28-26 to force a fourth set. The Black and Gold gave it their all, with the match seeing nine tie scores and six lead changes overall, but couldn't pull out the win over the Jayhawks.

"[Kansas is] a really good team. We would like to compete a little bit better," head coach Jesse Mahoney said. "We lost the serve-pass battle – couldn't manage their jump server very well, and struggled with the short serve. We never got into a rhythm offensively. We blocked and defended enough to make it a competitive match."

This is the 14th time this season the Buffaloes have had double-digit blocks. CU held KU to a .093 hitting percentage in set three.

KEY PLAYERS:

Jr. PIN Lily Dwinell led the Buffs with 11 kills. She also had two aces, six blocks, five digs and an assist.
MAHONEY ON DWINELL: "Lily did well playing in six rotations – that was a bright spot. She served well and defended well."
Jr. PIN Ana Burilovic had nine kills, six digs, three blocks and an ace
Sr. S Rian Finley totaled 25 assists, eight digs, one kill and one ace.
So. MB Maria Splawska notched four kills, four blocks, one dig and one ace.
So. PIN Gwen Schiff had two kills and one block.
Jr. MB Cayla Payne reached five kills, seven blocks, two digs and one ace.
Jr. PIN Sydney Jordan had six digs, two kills and an assist.
Jr. DS/L Peyton Neal had three digs and one overpass kill.
Fr. PIN Inés Losada had three kills, two digs, one block and one ace.
Sr. DS/L Sarah Morton tied the match-high for digs with 12. She also had five assists.
So. DS/L/S Katie Salonga totaled three assists and a dig.
For the Jayhawks, Grace Nelson had 16 kills.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The first set saw three tie scores as the teams started neck and neck. The Buffs went on an early 3-0 run off a kill from Payne (7-7). Kills from Burilovic kept CU in it as the Jayhawks extended their lead (17-14, KU). The end of the set saw another 3-0 run with kills from Schiff and Jordan, as well as a Finley ace (23-20, KU). Kansas stayed steady and took the first set, 25-20.
The Jayhawks went on an early 4-0 run, stopped by a Splawska kill. Kansas went on another 4-0 run, but Colorado responded with a 4-0 run of its own with kills from Burilovic and Jordan, as well as an overpass kill from Neal (12-7, KU). The Black and Gold had another from Payne, before going on a 4-0 run off a kill from Dwinell (20-13, KU). Kansas closed out the set, 25-15.
CU capitalized on KU errors for three points to start the set before Dwinell grabbed a kill and an ace (5-1, CU). Kansas tied it up on a 4-0 run, but Colorado had a kill from Dwinell and an ace from Losada (12-10, KU). Dwinell went off with three more kills and an ace (15-13, KU). Kansas extended its lead but a Burilovic kill stopped its run (20-19, KU). The Buffs staved off two match points, seeing kills from Payne, Losada and Burilovic, and took the set on a 3-0 run to force a fourth set, 28-26.
Splawska opened scoring in set four, along with a kill from Burilovic (4-3, KU). A Kansas 5-0 run was stopped by a Burilovic kill and a dump by Finley (10-5, KU). The Buffs had another two kills from Splawska and a kill from Burilovic (16-12, KU). The Jayhawks went on another 3-0 run, but the Buffs had back-to-back kills from Losada (22-15, KU). The Black and Gold made a final push on a 4-0 run to close the gap with a kill from Dwinell and an ace from Splawska, but Kansas took the fourth set and the match, 25-19.

UP NEXT

No. 20 Colorado will continue its Sunflower State road trip with another match this Saturday against Kansas State on Nov. 8, at 12 p.m. MT in Manhattan, Kan. The match will be streamed on ESPN+, and fans can follow along via live stats links on CUBuffs.com.

MATCH NOTES:

The Buffs move to 35-18 versus the Jayhawks all-time.
The Buffaloes got their third 3-1 loss of the season and are 6-3 in four-set matches.
Colorado had double-digit blocks for the 14th time this season.

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.