CU FALLS TO NO. 10 COLORADO STATE IN THREE

Tuesday, September 7

Boulder, Colo.

7 p.m.

Colorado

Colorado State

BUFFS RESTED AFTER BYE, TACKLE SOONERS SATURDAY

September 07, 2004 | Volleyball

By: CUBuffs.com

BOULDER ? Maragda Santillana had a match-high 20 kills for Colorado but a balanced Colorado State attack proved to be the difference as the No. 10 ranked Rams swept the Buffaloes 30-28, 30-25, 30-26 in front of 770 fans Tuesday night at the Coors Events Conference Center.

Santillana had 10 of her kills in a tightly contested game one. Neither team led by more than two points at any point in the first frame as both offenses were red hot. CU hit .333 in the first game (20 kills-7 errors-39 attacks) led by Santillana who recorded her 10 kills in just 15 attempts with no errors. CSU hit .439 for the first game with 22 kills on just 41 attacks with four errors.

All tied at 28, Ram senior Becky Sarauer picked up a kill and teamed with senior Bri Frech on a block of CU junior Allie Griffin to give CSU a 30-28 win in game one. Griffin, who averaged 5.3 kills per game over the first three matches, was held back by the Rams front line for only eight kills.

Blocking continued to be a theme in the second game. CU jumped out to an 8-4 lead, but serving errors and the blocking of Frech and Dre Downs allowed CSU to tie the game at 11. Frech had four of her match-high 10 blocks in game two, while Downs recorded three of her eight. CU's hitting percentage fell to .079 in game two, notching 13 kills on 38 attacks with 10 errors. CSU out-blocked the Buffaloes 16-9 for the entire match.

The Rams controlled most of game three building a 21-13 lead. CU rallied to get back within two at 27-25, but kills by Frech and Casey Bauer closed out the match.

“I thought we all fought really hard,” CU setter Ashley Nu'u said. “We played good, but not great. We just need to move on and learn from this match.”

Nu'u had 40 assists, five digs and three blocks running the Buffs offense. Santillana was the only Buff with double digits in kills, and saw her final hitting percentage drop to .256 at the end of the match (20k-9e-43att). Junior Nicole Carr had a match-high 13 digs and six kills. Carr, who entered the match second in the Big 12 Conference in digs, has compiled at least 10 digs in 10 of her last 12 matches dating back to 2003.

“I'm not too disappointed in how we played,” CU head coach Pi'i Aiu said. “The disappointment is because we are still doing a lot to beat ourselves.”

Colorado, 2-2 overall, will host the Colorado Invitational Thursday, Sept. 9 through Saturday, Sept. 11 at the CECC. The Buffs open action on Sept. 9 against Pittsburgh at 7 p.m.