Buffs Harness Hurricane in Second Straight Sweep

LARAMIE, Wyo. – The Colorado volleyball team (2-0, 0-0 Big 12) defeated Tulsa (0-2, 0-0 American) in three sets (25-21, 25-16, 25-23) at Arena-Auditorium on Saturday, Aug. 30.

The Buffs battled hard against the Golden Hurricane, with the match seeing 20 tie scores and five lead changes. CU fought back in each set, winning by as many as nine points in set two. Junior pin attacker Ana Burilovic led the way for the Buffs, leading in both kills and aces and hitting .385. Senior setter Rian Finley hit another career-high in assists with 38.

"Great to get another win and another sweep," head coach Jesse Mahoney said. "We were challenged today, had to make some adjustments midway through the match. […] We still have some rhythm and things with our offense that we need to get better at, but we're headed in the right direction there."

The Buffaloes out-aced (6-2) and out-blocked (8-7) the Hurricanes. Colorado also held Tulsa to .165 hitting.

KEY PLAYERS:

Jr. PIN Ana Burilovic led the match in kills with 17, hitting .385, and in aces with four. She also recorded four digs and one block.
MAHONEY ON BURILOVIC: "Burilovic was fantastic. She was the best player on both sides of the court. We really needed her today. […] The great thing about [Burilovic] is she's good at all things – she's our best point scorer from the service line; she's our best offensive player; she's one of our best passers and defenders. […] She looks really comfortable."
Sr. S Rian Finley led the match with a new career-high 38 assists, as well as six digs, one kill and one block.
MAHONEY ON FINLEY: "[Finley] has done a really nice job so far. There's always going to be some adjustments when you're used to a certain type of rhythm, and [Finley] is getting better at that. Competition and stress can get us out of our rhythm – I have a feeling [Finley] is going to continue to get better. When she's good, we can be really good."
Sr. DS/L Sarah Morton led the match in digs with 14. She also recorded one ace.
Jr. PIN Sydney Jordan recorded eight kills, three digs and two blocks (one solo).
Jr. MB Cayla Payne ended the match with seven kills, hitting .400, and two blocks.
Jr. PIN Lily Dwinell recorded six kills, three blocks and three digs.
So. MB Maria Splawska tied the match lead with five blocks. She also had two kills and two assists.
Fr. PIN Inés Losada recorded two kills (0e, 4att) and one dig.
Jr. DS/L Avery Bolles saw one ace and one assist.
Jr. DS/L Peyton Neal recorded two digs, and Fr. S Audrey Asleson recorded one block.
For the Golden Hurricane, Lauren Eitler recorded 11 digs and 10 kills, and Beth Bayless saw nine kills.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Colorado started the match with back-and-forth points between the Buffs and the Hurricanes (3-3). The Black and Gold went on a 3-0 run with a kill and ace from Burilovic, as well as a solo block from Jordan (6-3, CU). Burilovic ended a Tulsa four-point run with a kill of her own (10-9, CU). CU went on their own run with back-to-back aces from Burilovic, causing the Hurricanes to call the first timeout of the set. (15-13, CU). Tulsa tied the score, and Colorado called their first timeout (17-17). The Black and Gold returned to the court to score two kills from Burilovic, assisted by Splawska and Bolles (20-18, CU). A final block from Asleson and Spalwska saw the end of set one (25-21, CU).
The Buffs carried their momentum into set two, starting with an early kill from Dwinell and an ace from Bolles. A 4-0 run from Colorado included a kill from Jordan and an ace from Morton (10-5, CU). A kill from Jordan, assisted by Finley, brought Colorado's score to double that of the Hurricanes (12-6). Another three-point run, with kills from Dwinell and Burilovic, and a Splawska-Dwinell block, forced Tulsa to call their second timeout within five points (15-7, CU). Alternating kills from Losada and Dwinell brought Colorado near the end of the set, with a final kill from Burilovic to bring the Buffs to a second set victory (25-16).
The third set saw a slower start from the Buffs with back-and-forth points between the Buffaloes and the Hurricanes (4-5, CU). The Black and Gold saw six unanswered points from Tulsa, including a Hurricanes timeout five points into the run (10-5, CU). Tulsa went on a run of their own which was quickly ended by a kill from Burilovic (13-10, CU). Colorado's two kills from Payne and ace from Burilovic established a four-point lead over the Hurricanes, forcing Tulsa to call their last timeout of the match (17-13). A short Tulsa run brought a tie (21-21), but Colorado pushed through to the end of the set, finishing 25-23.

UP NEXT:

The Buffaloes wrap up the Rumble in the Rockies tournament on Sunday (Aug. 31) afternoon with one final match against host school Wyoming. First serve is set for 1 p.m. MT, and the match will be streamed on Mountain West Network.
MAHONEY ON WYOMING: "Wyoming runs a fast offense. We have to work on getting them out of system […] It's what we do on our side – if we can pass well, be in a rhythm and do the fundamentals, we'll be successful."

MATCH NOTES:

The Golden Hurricane and the Buffs met for the first time since 1986, with CU's win tying the all-time record 1-1.
The Buffaloes get their second 3-0 victory of the season and are 2-0 in three-set matches.
Colorado had more kills (43-34), assists (42-31), blocks (8-7) and service aces (6-1) than its opponent.

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.

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Team Stats

Ana Burilović

Sydney Jordan

Cayla Payne

Lily Dwinell

Players Mentioned

Audrey Asleson

Avery Bolles

Lily Dwinell

Rian Finley

Sydney Jordan

Sarah Morton

Peyton Neal

Cayla Payne

Players Mentioned

Audrey Asleson

Avery Bolles

Lily Dwinell

Rian Finley

Sydney Jordan

Sarah Morton

Peyton Neal

Cayla Payne