Colorado Falls To Utah In Conference Opener

Friday, September 25

Boulder, Colo.

7 p.m.

Colorado

9-2,0-1Big 12

Utah

9-3,1-0Big 12

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Utah	26	25	25	3
Colorado	24	22	17	0

September 25, 2026 | Volleyball

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By: Anna Duffy, Athletic Communications Associate

BOULDER – The No. 21 ranked Colorado Buffaloes volleyball team dropped its Big 12 Conference opener against Utah on Friday night at the CU Events Center.

Colorado fell in three sets (26-24, 25-22, 25-17), moving to 9-2 on the season and 0-1 in Big 12 play with Utah improving to 9-3, 1-0 in conference play.

During the contest, pin attacker Lily Dwinell reached a pair of career milestones. She recorded both her 750th kill and her 300th block.

Setter Jenna Ylivainio had 22 assists, giving her double-digits in every contest this year.

The Utes were led by outside hitter Kamryn Gibadlo, who had 14 kills and setter Izzy Mogridge, who had 22 assists.

"I thought they scouted us really well and had two blockers up on almost every one of our swings," Head Coach Jesse Mahoney said, "We got some work to do. The lucky thing is we have a really talented group and I think we are really motivated to get good. I know we can get better as the season goes on."

How It Happened:

Set One: Colorado trailed early as Utah came out with a 3-0 scoring run after an initial CU point. The Buffs responded to the deficit as middle blocker Cayla Payne forced an attack error to tie the set at four apiece.

With pin attacker Ana Burilovic behind the service line, CU gained momentum with a 3-0 scoring run, fueled by three Utah errors, as the Utes held onto a slight advantage at 9-7.

Sparked by a kill from Burilovic, the Buffs regained the lead with a 4-0 run, capped off by a block from Dwinell and middle blocker Maria Splawska to put CU up 12-11.

Burilovic pushed the Buffs ahead with a kill, assisted by Ylivainio, finalizing a 3-1 run and giving Colorado a 18-15 lead.

Utah inched its way back with two kills and an ace, but blocks by Payne and Jenna Ylivainio put CU at an even score of 20-20 with. The Utes took the first set 26-24.

Set Two: Colorado opened on a 7-1 run with kills from Burilovic and Dwinell. The run also highlighted Dwinell's 750th career kill on her fourth of the night.

With a powerful ace from Burilovic, CU extended its advantage to 10-4. Dwinell hit her second milestone with her 300th career block to give the Buffs a 14-8 lead.

Colorado broke up a five-point Utah run to regain the lead, as Payne logged back-to-back kills, putting the Buffs up 18-16. Set two went toe-to-toe, but Utah took the second set 25-22.

Set Three: Despite trailing 7-3 early, the Buffs remained in the set with blocks from pin attacker Ines Losada and middle blocker Barbora Rakauskaite, as well as a Losada kill, bringing Colorado within closing distance, trailing 8-6.

The Buffs continued to fight through the set, as Losada's kill ended Utah's four-point run, as the Buffs trailed 18-13. Coming out of the CU timeout, Rakauskaite fed a kill off a Ylivainio assist, with Colorado down 20-15.

Utah took the third set 25-17 to secure the win.

DWINELL ON A MILESTONE NIGHT: "It's a little hard to focus on that after the game, but I am happy to be someone that this team can rely on and go to in games."

MATCH NOTES:

Since returning to the Big 12 in 2024, CU is 1-2 in conference openers.
The score was tied on 16 different occasions.
Ylivainio has recorded double-digit assists every match this season.

UP NEXT: The Buffs stay at home to face Arizona on Sept. 27 at 1 p.m. The match will be streamed on ESPN+ and fans can follow along via live stats on cubuffs.com. Tickets for the Arizona match are available for purchase here.