SPRING VOLLEYBALL PRACTICE IN FULL GEAR

There is no more snow on the ground in Boulder, and the only color the leaves are turning is green. Still there is a familiar sense of fall inside the walls of Carlson Gymnasium on the University of Colorado campus.

Carlson Gymnasium is the spring practice home of the Colorado volleyball team. The Buffaloes, who began spring practice in mid-March, will scrimmage with Wyoming and Air Force on Saturday, April 3, in Carlson Gymnasium.

Spring practice has given the Buffs a chance to work on areas of concern, but most of all, a chance to recapture the momentum gained with a solid ending to the 2003 season.

"The main goal for this spring and the next three weeks is to just getting that chemistry down, trying to get back what we had in the fall," said setter Allison Barnes, who will be CU's lone senior in 2004. "This might sound silly, but we're just having fun. We're out here, we're working hard, we do a lot of conditioning, running lifting and I think we've just become so much stronger together."

CU had an outstanding year in 2003, especially in the second half of the season. Picked to finish seventh in the Big 12 Conference in preseason voting by league coaches, the Buffaloes finished in a tie for third place at 13-7. CU was the most improved team in the Big 12 in 2003 in terms of number of league wins, a plus-4 from the 2002 season. Overall CU finished 21-10, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the 12th time in 13 seasons.

The Buffs were especially tough in the second half of the season. CU was 8-2 during the second go-around of the league schedule, picking up wins against NCAA tournament teams such as Texas A&M, Missouri and Kansas. CU head coach Pi'i Aiu attributes a tremendous work ethic in practice to the Buffs successes last fall, something that has carried into the spring season.

"The most important aspect is that we've carried through what we learned at the end of last season," Aiu said. "Last season we started competing really hard in practice and that's how we got better in the second half."

With no Big 12 contests looming for another five months, the Buffs are able to fine tune aspects of their game which they hope will give them a shot at their first conference title since 1993.

"(Spring practice) is different a little bit because you're not always getting ready for the next match," Aiu said. "In the Big 12 we play Wednesday-Saturday so your next match is always right around the corner. Spring it's different, you have a lot of time to work on little things."

"We have been working on our jump serving," Barnes said. "I think that's a really important part because the serve is the first offensive attempt you can have. We can get a good jump serve and try to mess up (the other team's) offense. Also, trying to run a faster offense has been one of our big points this spring."

Barnes is one of five starters and 10 letterwinners returning for the Buffs next fall. CU graduated just two seniors from last year's squad -- Monique Gerlach, an honorable mention All-American middle blocker, and defensive specialist Monica Vesanovic, a mainstay on the Buffs' back row the past four seasons.

Replacing Gerlach will be one of CU's biggest challenges for next fall, but the Buffs have plenty of candidates. Junior-to-be Allie Griffin and sophomore-to-be Austin Zimmerman started every match last fall and can both play the position. Lara Bossow logged limited time as a true freshman, but saw her time increase at the end of the season. Colorado will also be looking forward to having the services of 6-3 junior Lynsey Mann, who had to sit out last season after transferring from Western State College.

After this weekend, CU is scheduled to take two spring trips in the upcoming weeks. The Buffs will play in a tournament in Bakersfield, Calif., on April 17 and then travel to Milwaukee, Wis., home of outside hitter Nicole Carr, for a tournament on April 24.

CU will open the 2004 regular season with a home date against the University of Denver on Sept. 1, at the Coors Events Conference Center.