Buffs Attack Anteaters in Five-Set Thriller

IRVINE, Calif. – The Colorado volleyball team (6-0, 0-0 Big 12) defeated UC Irvine (3-2- 0-0 Big West) in five sets (25-15, 19-25, 16-25, 25-13, 15-9) at Bren Events Center on Saturday, Sept. 6.

The Colorado Buffaloes played their final matchup in the Anteater Classic against host school UC Irvine. The match was a five-set thriller, with Colorado taking the first, fourth and fifth sets. Junior pin attacker Sydney Jordan and senior setter Rian Finley both reached career-highs.

"I'm happy to get the win – I knew Irvine was going to be a tough test, especially on its home floor," head coach Jesse Mahoney said. "A little bit of an uneven performance for us. […] It was good for us to be tested, have to respond, and I think we did a really good job of responding."

The Buffaloes out-hit (62-48), out-assisted (57-43), out-dug (54-46) and out-aced (12-5) the Anteaters. Colorado hit over .400 in all three sets it won and held UC Irvine to .223 hitting.

KEY PLAYERS:

Jr. PIN Sydney Jordan reached a career-high five aces, leading the match. She also recorded 12 digs, nine kills and two blocks, including one solo block.
Sr. S Rian Finley led the match with a career-high 52 assists. She also had two blocks and one kill.
Jr. PIN Ana Burilovic led the match in kills with 20. She also saw seven digs, two aces and two blocks.
Jr. MB Cayla Payne recorded 16 kills, hitting .448. She also had eight blocks, including three solo blocks, and one assist.
So. MB Maria Splawska scored four kills and one block for the Buffs.
Jr. DS/L Peyton Neal saw 12 digs and one assist.
Jr. PIN Lily Dwinell recorded 11 kills, two digs and one block.
Sr. DS/L Sarah Morton saw 10 digs, one ace and one assist.
Jr. DS/L Avery Bolles earned three aces and two digs for Colorado.
Fr. PIN Inés Losada scored one ace, one kill and one assist.
For the Anteaters, Kendra Duffy recorded 14 kills, two blocks and two digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Buffaloes started the match with a 3-0 run (3-0, CU). Back-to-back kills from Jordan kept Colorado at a comfortable lead (8-4, CU). Colorado continued their momentum with kills from Payne and Burilovic, assisted by Finley (16-11, CU). The Anteaters were forced to call their first timeout after kills from Dwinell and Jordan (18-12, CU). Coming out of the timeout, Jordan got CU's second solo block (19-12, CU). UC Irvine called their second timeout (22-14, CU). Final kills from Burilovic and Payne saw the end of the second set (25-15, CU).
Colorado carried their energy into the second set, going on a three-point run early in the set (6-2, CU). A kill from Jordan put a stop to an Anteater run (10-8, CU). The Buffs saw a six-point run from UC Irvine, but back-to-back aces from Jordan started Colorado on a run of its own (14-13, UCI). A kill from Burilovic tied the game and forced an Anteater timeout (14-14, CU). Two kills from Burilovic and a Bolles ace put the Black and Gold back in the lead (17-16, CU). Colorado called a timeout after a run from UC Irvine (20-17, UCI). Colorado tried to make a comeback, but the Anteaters took the second set (25-19, UCI).
The Buffs started the third set going back-and-forth with the Anteaters (6-6). UC Irvine went on a run, but a quick kill from Finley halted their momentum (14-10, UCI). After the media timeout, Losada scored her first kill of the match (15-11, UCI). CU called a timeout following a UC Irvine run (19-12, UCI). The Buffs came back from the timeout to go on a 3-0 run, causing UC Irvine to call a timeout (19-15, UCI). Colorado called its final timeout but was unable to stop the Anteaters from taking the second set (25-16, UCI).
The start of the fourth set saw an early kill from Jordan (1-0, CU). The Buffs continued to a 3-0 run with a kill from Burilovic and a Dwinell-Splawska block (3-0, CU). Kills from Payne and Jordan continued the momentum for the Black and Gold (9-5, CU). Burilovic continued the run with an ace, causing the Anteaters to call a timeout (10-5, CU). A kill from Payne led to a six-point lead for the Buffaloes (12-6, CU). Jordan's fourth ace forced the Anteaters to call a timeout after four unanswered points (17-8, CU). Coming out of the timeout, Jordan scored another ace, establishing a 10-point lead over the Anteaters (18-8, CU). UC Irvine tried to make a comeback, but a final block from Jordan and Payne allowed Colorado to take the fourth set by 12 points (25-13, CU).
Colorado went on an early 3-0 run with double kills from Payne, causing the Anteaters to call a timeout (3-1, CU). An ace from Morton saw the side switch and a second timeout from UC Irvine (8-4, CU). A kill from Splawska and an ace from Bolles put the Buffs within two of the win (13-7, CU). A final kill from Burilovic allowed Colorado to take the final set (15-9, CU).

UP NEXT

The Buffaloes return to Boulder for their home opener in Buffs Invitational this upcoming week from Sept. 12-14. Colorado's first of three matches is against Arkansas, and first serve is set for 6 p.m. MT. The match will be streamed on ESPN+, and fans can follow along via live stats links on CUBuffs.com.

MATCH NOTES:

CU improves to 3-1 in the series with the Anteaters all-time.
The last time the Buffs were 6-0 to start the season, having lost only two sets, was in 2017.
The Buffaloes got their first 3-2 victory of the season and are 1-0 in five-set matches.
Colorado had more kills (62-48), assists (57-43), digs (54-46) and service aces (12-5) than UC Irvine.

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

Cayla Payne

Lily Dwinell

Sydney Jordan

Players Mentioned

Avery Bolles

Lily Dwinell

Rian Finley

Sydney Jordan

Sarah Morton

Peyton Neal

Cayla Payne

Players Mentioned

Avery Bolles

Lily Dwinell

Rian Finley

Sydney Jordan

Sarah Morton

Peyton Neal

Cayla Payne