Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
UCLA
Spikers Push No. 11 UCLA To Four
August 30, 2002 | Volleyball
HONOLULU - The No. 21 University of Colorado volleyball team dropped their first loss of the season to the No. 11 UCLA Bruins 15-30, 28-30, 30-26, 27-30 Friday night in game one of the 15th Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. The Buffs now stand at 0-1 on the season as the Bruins start off 2002 at 1-0.
"I think our performance got a lot better from game one to game four," Colorado head coach Pi'i Aiu said. "We need to work out the kinks on offense. I made a big lineup mistake in game four, and without that, I think our team would have had a shot. Overall, though, I think our girls did a good job and played well."
The Buffs hit .116 as a team to the Bruins' .274 hitting percentage. Colorado freshman left side Nicole Carr led CU in her collegiate debut as she hit .455 on the night with six kills and only one error on 11 attacks with 12 digs in the match. CU saw action from four freshmen, as middle blocker Maragda Santallina started the match and Carr, left side Drew Hays, and middle blocker Allie Griffin came off the bench to combine for 12 kills and 16 digs in the match.
Senior left side Kim Taskey came up huge for the Buffs on defense as she tallied a team-high 14 digs in the match, just one dig shy of her career high mark of 15. Junior middle Monique Gerlach led CU in terms of kills with nine as she finished third on the squad with a .238 hitting percentage. Senior setter Elizabeth Gower 35 assists on the night as she hit second on the team with .238 and finished the match with seven kills.
Sixth year head coach Pi'i Aiu is in the hunt for his 100th career win as he currently stands at 98-53 throughout his tenure in Boulder. Aiu will become the second coach in CU history to reach the 100-win plateau.
The Buffaloes will face the No. 9 Ohio State Buckeyes Saturday in day-two action of the Hawaiian Wahine Classic. They face No. 5 Hawaii on Sunday before returning home to Boulder, where they will have a two-day layover before venturing to the Loyola Marymount University Classic September 6-7 in Los Angeles, Calif. CU will open the regular season at home against Colorado State University on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at 7 p.m. at the Coors Events/Conference Center in Boulder.
