Buffs Knock Off No. 13 Penn State

BOULDER — If there was any doubt about whether the Colorado volleyball team was going to be an NCAA Tournament contender this year, the Buffs took care of it on Saturday night as they knocked off No. 13 Penn State 3-2 (22-25, 25-20, 25-19, 20-25, 15-3) in front of a crowd of over 2,300 at Coors Events Center.

The win is the first for the Buffs over the Nittany Lions since the very first meeting between the two teams in 1989. Coincidentally that match also went five sets.

WHAT HAPPENED: Colorado played its best match this season to make head coach Jesse Mahoney's home debut one to remember. Sophomore Alexa Smith led the team with 12 kills and added 18 digs for her second double-double this season. Junior Gabby Simpson returned to the line-up after missing the first three matches due to injury, and added 10 kills, 25 assists, eight digs and two blocks. Another junior, Stephanie Shadley, had another nice performance with nine kills, nine digs, two blocks and a pair of aces. Defensively, senior Cierra Simpson led the Buffs with 24 digs.

SET 1: The two teams played a very close first set, battling back and forth. The Buffs led 15-14 at the first break and were ahead 21-20 when the Nittany Lions went up 22-20. The Buffs were able to side-out, but PSU finished the set with a 3-0 run (25-22).

SET 2: The Buffs took a 10-4 lead, thanks in part to a 6-1 run that included four kills and a pair of blocks. PSU called a timeout and was able to take four of the next five points, cutting the Buffs' lead to three. The Nittany Lions got within one at 12-11, but a kill from Gabby Simpson put the Buffs back up by two (13-11). Colorado was able to increase the lead to four late in the set (23-19) and finished it easily 25-20.

SET 3: Colorado came out strong after the intermission and went up 17-12 midway through the set. PSU rallied to get the score back within one at 19-18, forcing the Buffs to take a timeout. CU responded with a pair of kills from Shadley (21-18), causing PSU to take a break. CU did not slow down out, adding two more points with a PSU attack error and a block by Gabby Simpson and Naghede Abu (23-18). The Buffs went on to take the set 25-19 after another huge block by Abu.

SET 4: Penn State took an 11-8 lead before the Buffs called a timeout. CU answered with a kill from Anna Pfefferle, but PSU sided-out and increased the lead to 17-12. The Nittany Lions had a 24-17 advantage, but the Buffs weren't ready to be done and fought off three straight points before PSU closed the frame 25-20.

SET 5: The Buffs were on a roll to start the fifth set, taking the first six points. CU led 8-1 at the side change after Joslyn Hayes recorded her ninth kill of the match and Shadley served up her second ace of the contest. The Buffs kept on the offensive and convincingly won the fifth set 15-3.

TEAM STATISTICS: The Buffs hit .220 with 55 kills and 22 errors on 150 attacks. They also had 53 assists, 68 digs, 13.0 team blocks (three solos and 20 assists) and five aces. PSU hit .154 with 60 kills and 33 errors on 175 attacks. Additionally they had 57 assists, 63 digs, 16.0 team blocks (seven solos and 18 assists) and two aces.

NOTEABLE: The Buffs are now 3-1 on the season; Penn State is 2-2…This was the first time Penn State has played a match in Boulder...PSU leads the all-time series against CU 6-2…This was the first ranked opponent of the season for the Buffs…It's the second straight year the Buffs have defeated the first ranked opponent who has visited the Coors Events Center.
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THE FIRST MATCH: No. 9 Stanford (2-1) defeated No. 17 Illinois (2-2) 3-2 in the first match of the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge. Set scores were 25-22, 19-25, 25-12, 20-25, 15-12.

NEXT UP: Colorado will host No. 17 Illinois on Sunday, Sept. 3, at 6 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Network.

QUOTABLE:
Jesse Mahoney, head coach
On Starting His First Season At CU With A Big Win
"It feels pretty good. That's why you play the game, for matches like that. Five sets against a top 25 team, the crowd yelling and screaming, and your players playing their best volleyball so it was a lot of fun."

On Winning A Quality Non Conference Matchup Against A Tough Opponent
"These are opportunities for us. Losses don't hurt us but wins help us a lot. As you get down towards the end, as they're making decisions, they'll look at how many top 25 you get and head to head so we set ourselves up this year to play a lot of good competition early. This is the first step, hopefully we get some more wins."

On How Big Of A Boost This Is Going Into The Illinois Game
"If we didn't think we were a good team before this, now we know we're a good team. The first weekend was a little up and down on our level of play. If we had played like that the first weekend, we would've played a lot less sets. It's good for us to get that experience and understand that we are really good. Illinois is really good too, so we're going to have to play at that level and probably better."

On Gabby Simpson's Production
"She's really good. She's been out for the last couple weeks. We'll see how she rebounds. I think she'll tell you this, she probably didn't play her best match. She's still trying to get her legs under her and feel how she wants to feel when she's healthy. Even at 75-80%, she's still really good."

Cierra Simpson, Senior Libero
On Playing Penn State
"It's always great to play really good competition because it's very similar to what we see in the Pac-12 night in and night out. It's good for us to see that early in the season, so we can kind of, be seasoned to it, by the time we actually get to the conference."

Going into the fifth set
"I think we kind of knew that we had slipped up, we gave them points here and there that we can't give them, or any team. I think throughout the match we were able to tie those little errors up and not make those mistakes. Once we got to fifth set, it was petal to the metal.

Alexa Smith, Sophomore Outside Hitter
Mentality going into the game
"One thing we really talk about is, we don't want to lose on this court. This is our home court. We want to protect that, and so, just going into that game, we just said, we're not going to lose on this court."

About the crowd
"It made it a lot of fun, seeing a lot of people. Obviously a ton of us are from the Springs and from Colorado, so that made the crowd a lot bigger. It's really fun to have that support and people from the community coming out.

COLORADO TICKET INFORMATION
Single match tickets for most contests start at just $5 for general admission and $8 for reserved seating. Tickets for the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge (Sept. 3-4), as well as the second day of the Omni Invitational (Sept. 17), will start at $8 for general admission and $12 for reserved seats. Kids 12 and under are still free.

Season tickets are also available and start at just $25 for general admission, while reserved seats are $40. Fans can purchase single match and season tickets online at CUBuffs.com or by calling 303-49-BUFFS.

And don't forget about the Women's Sports Pass. For just $125, the Women's sports pass gives you general admission seating for all volleyball, soccer and women's basketball home games.

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Team Stats

Alexa Smith

Gabby Simpson

Stephanie Shadley

Naghede Abu

Players Mentioned

Naghede Abu

Joslyn Hayes

Anna Pfefferle

Stephanie Shadley

Cierra Simpson

Gabby Simpson

Alexa Smith

Players Mentioned

Naghede Abu

Joslyn Hayes

Anna Pfefferle

Stephanie Shadley

Cierra Simpson

Gabby Simpson

Alexa Smith