Buffs Fall To West Virginia In Four Sets - University of Colorado Athletics

Sunday, November 8

Morgantown, W.Va.

11 a.m.

Colorado

16-7,7-6Big 12

West Virginia

12-10,5-7Big 12

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Colorado	23	25	17	11	1
West Virginia	25	23	25	25	3

November 08, 2026 | Volleyball

Box Score Get Tickets Donate To Volleyball

By: Anna Duffy, Athletic Communications Associate

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — No. 25 Colorado volleyball dropped its match against West Virginia, falling in four sets, 25-23, 25-23, 25-17, 25-11, on Sunday afternoon at Hope Coliseum.

West Virginia (12-10, 5-7 Big 12) took the first, third and fourth sets, while Colorado (16-7, 7-6 Big 12) won the second set. The first two sets were evenly matched as the score tied on 20 different occasions throughout the first and second set.

Pin attacker Ines Losada led the Buffs offensively with a career-high 19 kills, while adding six digs, a block and a service ace. Setter Jenna Ylivainio was an all-around contributor with 31 assists, five blocks and a career-high three service aces. Middle blocker Cayla Payne added 12 kills and three blocks, hitting at a .571 clip.

"We gave up the lead in set one. That was a set we had control of and we just couldn't get out of one of our rotations," CU Head Coach Jesse Mahoney said. "By the time we got to set three and set four we couldn't generate enough offense. I felt like defensively we did enough to win. We just didn't have enough firepower to score enough points."

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Set One: West Virginia 25, Colorado 23

Losada opened the scoring with a service ace before West Virginia responded with a 5-1 run. A kill from Losada and a block from Ylivainio and middle blocker Maria Splawska evened the set at seven.

The Buffs battled through a tight first set as Ylivainio and Payne tied the contest at 13 with a block. CU took a four-point advantage, the largest lead of the set, off two Losada kills and Mountaineer attack errors.

Colorado looked to close out the set as Splawska cashed in a kill, but West Virginia mounted a 6-0 run to win the first set.

Set Two: Colorado 25, West Virginia 23

The opponents brawled through strenuous rallies as Colorado found an 8-5 lead off a kill from Payne. Pin attacker Sydney Jordan sneaked in an ace to keep the Buffs' slight edge over the Mountaineers.

Ylivainio put Colorado ahead, 16-13, with back-to-back aces to spark a 6-0 scoring run. Losada capped off the run with a kill.

West Virginia responded with a 5-0 run of its own to keep the set tense. Knotted at 22, both teams inched closer to set point before a Payne kill gave Colorado the lead.

Losada capitalized on the advantage and secured the second set for the Buffs with a kill.

Set Three: West Virginia 25, Colorado 17

After an early exchange of points, Payne tied the set at four with her third kill of the set. Ylivainio recorded her third ace of the night to tie the set at eight.

Colorado trailed slightly before a 3-0 scoring streak, including a kill from Splawska, gave the Buffs a 12-11 advantage.

Losada extinguished a 4-0 Mountaineer run with a kill, but West Virginia extended its lead to claim the third set.

Set Four: West Virginia 25, Colorado 11

Losada continued to lead the charge, securing the first point for Colorado after an initial 5-0 deficit. West Virginia continued to outpace CU as the Buffs trailed, 15-4.

Splawska interrupted the Mountaineers' flow with a kill before defensive specialist Avery Bolles recorded an ace to keep Colorado in the fight.

However, it was not enough to come back as West Virginia took the victory.

"The effort is there from everybody," Mahoney said. "I thought Ines was able to score enough to keep us in it and we have to find ways for our other pins to get good looks."

MATCH NOTES:

Colorado averages 2.96 blocks per set. The Buffs secured four blocks in the first set.
Colorado is now 2-5 when dropping the first set and 4-5 on the road.
The score was tied 26 times throughout the contest.
Losada led the match in kills (19), attacks (56) and points (20.5), while Ylivainio led the match in assists (31).
This is Colorado's first loss to an unranked team since falling to Utah on Sept. 26.
Ylivainio led the team in blocks and aces for the first time this season.

UP NEXT: The Colorado Buffaloes return to Boulder to take on No. 15 Kansas on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the CU Events Center. The match will be streamed on ESPN+, and fans can follow along via live stats on cubuffs.com.

For more information on the Colorado volleyball team, please visit cubuffs.com/vb. Fans of the Buffs can follow @cubuffsvb on Instagram, X, Facebook and TikTok.

GET TICKETS: Tickets for the match against Kansas are on sale and can be purchased here.