Colorado
Utah
Colorado Opens Big 12 Play At Home Against Utah
September 23, 2026 | Volleyball
BOULDER — The No. 21 Colorado volleyball team will open its Big 12 conference slate by hosting Utah on Friday at 7 p.m. at the CU Events Center.Â
Colorado (9-1) will take on Utah (8-3) for the 35th time in the all-time series. The Buffs have won two-straight matches against the Utes.Â
Colorado is coming off its home-and-home series against CSU, where they won the first match at home and dropped the second in Fort Collins. The Buffs saw the largest attendance at the CU Events Center since 2023 in their contest with the Rams.Â
MATCH #11 - Friday, Sept. 25, 7 p.m. - Boulder, Colo.Â
No. 21 Colorado vs. Utah
SERIES RECORD: 16-19
LAST MEETING: 3-1 win (10/15/25 - Boulder, Colo.)Â
STREAK: W2
OPPONENT WEBSITE: https://utahutes.com/
WATCH: ESPN+
FIRST SERVE:
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Ahead of the season, Colorado was picked to finish fifth in the Big 12. In 2025, the Buffs recorded a 12-6 mark in conference play.
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Senior setter Jenna Ylivainio and senior pin attacker Ana Burilovic recorded double-doubles last week. Ylivainio notched 50 assists and 13 digs against Colorado State (Sept. 17). Burilovic secured back-to-back double-doubles with 22 kills and 10 digs on Thursday and 14 kills and 10 digs on Friday.Â
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Colorado is ranked second in the NCAA in blocks per set (3.25) and fifth in the NCAA in opponent hitting percentage, holding teams to an average 0.139. They lead the Big 12 in both stat categories.Â
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The Buffs are represented on five Big 12 stat leaderboards: Burilovic is fifth in kills per set (4.36) and service aces per set (0.47), and is third in points per set (5.22). Ylivainio sits at fourth in assists per set (10.11). Senior middle blocker Cayla Payne is third in blocks per set (1.47) and freshman middle blocker Barbora Rakauskaite is sixth (1.32).Â
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Burilovic was named to Big 12 Starting Seven in week two of the season, while Ylivainio made the lineup in week three.Â
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Entering league play, Colorado is tied with the third-longest win streak nationally in neutral-site games with seven.Â
ROAM WITH THE BUFFS: The match against Utah at the CU Events Center will be broadcast on ESPN+. Fans can also follow Colorado matches through live stats available at CUBuffs.com.Â
CONFERENCE CLASH: Colorado trails the all-time series 19-16. In the team's last meeting, CU took down the Utes in four sets. At home, the Buffs are 12-5 against Utah.Â
UTES ON DECK: Utah is headlined by senior outside hitter Kamryn Gibadlo. Gibadlo has 144 kills on the season, averaging 3.89 per set. Alyssa D'Errico is in her first season at the helm of the program after three seasons as associate head coach for the Utes.Â
MILESTONE WATCH: Senior pin attacker Lily Dwinell needs three kills to reach 750 and four blocks to reach 300 in her career. Senior pin attacker Sydney Jordan is 14 blocks away from 100. Senior defensive specialist/libero Peyton Neal needs 20 more digs to reach 1,000.Â
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.
