Ashley Nu'u

Denver

Sep 14 (Sun)

2 PM

Position:
Setter
Height:
5-10
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Aurora, Colo.
High School:
Smoky Hill

Ashley Nu’u is ready to make her final mark as one of CU’s elite setters in school history. She is fifth on CU’s all-time assists list with 2,963. Nu’u was an AVCA All-Central Region honorable mention and All-Big 12 honorable mention pick in 2005. There is no question the 2006 offense starts here.

As a Junior in 2005

Nu’u earned honorable mention honors to the 2005 AVCA All-Central Region and All- Big 12 Conference Teams as a junior. She ranked 17^th in the NCAA and was third in the Big 12 with 13.16 assists per game. In league-only contests she also ranked third with 12.82. Her 1,448 assists during the season were the seventh highest handed out in a single season. Nu’u helped CU set a record for the single-season attack percentage at .262, besting the former record of .259 set in 1991. For the second straight year, she recorded triple figures in three different statistical categories adding 113 kills and 194 digs. Nu’u handed out a career-high 70 assists against Baylor (10/5). On 11 occasions, she passed out 60 or more assists. Against Kansas (10/1), Nu’u picked up a career-high 13 digs. She was named the Big 12 Volleyball Player of the Week on Oct. 31 after directing the Buffs to a victory over No. 8 Missouri (10/29) in Columbia, Mo. Nu’u handed out 57 assists and helped CU to a .214 hitting percentage. She was named to the University of Denver All-Tournament Team (11/25-26). In February, Nu’u was selected to the 2006 USA Women’s National Volleyball A2 Team as the lone representative of the Big 12 Conference.

As a Sophomore in 2004

Nu’u earned honorable mention to the 2004 All-Conference Big 12 team in her first year as a full-time starter. She ranked fifth in the Big 12 in overall assists with 12.19 per game and was sixth in league-only contests at 11.79 per game. Her season total of 1,146 assists ranks 12th on CU’s single-season list. She is the 12th CU player to record triple figures in three different statistical categories adding 119 kills and 144 digs, a feat that has happened a total of 23 times. Nu’u set career-highs in assists (63), kills (eight) and attacks (14) during the team’s win over No. 20 San Diego (9/10). She would increase her personal-best in kills to nine while setting a career-marks in points (12) and hitting percentage (.750, 9k-0e-12att ? min. 10 attacks) against Oklahoma (11/13). Nu’u tied a school record for most attacks in which all ended in kills with seven in the home win over No. 16 Kansas State (9/15). She earned a spot on both the Oregon Classic and Colorado Invitational All-Tournament teams. She averaged 13.5 assists, 1.7 digs, 0.9 blocks per game and hit .593 (17k-1e-27att) over the three matches. Nu’u had the highest hitting percentage on the team among those with 200 or more attacks and ranked second on the squad in aces (14) and fourth in total blocks (63).

As a Freshman in 2003

Voted as the 2003 Big 12 Conference Preseason Freshman of the Year. Only a sore back during the non-conference season prevented Nu’u from achieving those early expectations. She missed eight matches early, but came on strong to play in 19 of the final 20 contests, providing CU with an added boost during its second half run. She used her blocking skills to be a front-row force in the Buffs’ two-setter system used at the end of 2003. Nu’u recorded 30 of her 46 season blocks in the final seven matches of the season. Nu’u was second on the team in attack percentage (.311), assists (369) and blocks per game (0.80). She had seven blocks, including four solo, at Texas Tech (11/8) just one shy of CU’s single-match record for a setter. Nu’u had the fifth most assists by a freshman in team history and ranked fourth in solo blocks by a freshman.

High School

One of the most intensely recruited preps in her class, Ashley Nu’u was the No. 2 ranked recruit in the nation following a stellar prep career. At Overland High School her freshman year she took her first of four first-team All-Centennial League and all-state honors home. As a sophomore, Smoky Hill went 26-1 during the regular season, took district and regionals and she was named the Best-of-the-Best at setter. As a junior and senior, the Buffaloes were 60-3 including a one-loss senior campaign that saw her average 10.9 assists, and swept the postseason with district, regional and back-to-back Class 5A state championships. She was the Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post Class 5A Player of the Year and was nominated for Sportswoman of Colorado following in 2001 and 2002. She was voted to the Colorado State Tournament All-Tournament team in 2001 and 2002. She played for a Front Range Club team that won the 18 Open National Championship in Salt Lake City in 2002 and the Far Western Qualifier in Reno as well as taking the Rocky Mountain Regional Championship. She played on USA Volleyball’s Junior National Team in 2001 (at the World Championships in the Dominican Republic) and 2002 (captaining the latter).

Personal

Born Jan. 23, 1985, in Bakersfield, Calif., Ashley Nu’u is the second daughter (by three minutes) of Joe and Lisa Nu’u of Aurora. Her twin sister Amber is a junior outside hitter at Colorado, and her 14-year-old brother will be in the ninth grade. She and Amber are just the second set of twins to play at CU following Sylvie and Josee Roberge (1997-01). Her hobbies including reading (her favorite author is Francine Rivers) as volleyball consumes most of her free time.

Academics

Ashley is majoring in psychology at CU.