Buffs Sweep Iowa State For Fourth Straight Victory

Wednesday, October 26

Boulder, Colo.

7 p.m.

Colorado

Iowa State

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

October 26, 2005 | Volleyball

By: Kyle Mead, Student Assistant SID

BOULDER? The Colorado Buffaloes volleyball team swept the Iowa State Cyclones, 30-27, 30-21, 31-29 to run their season-high winning streak to four matches Wednesday night in front of 653 fans here at the Coors Events Center.

The victory was also the fourth straight for the Buffs in the friendly confines of their home arena and moved them into a three-way tie for fourth place in the Big 12 Conference with the Cyclones and Kansas State.

“It feels good (to win four in-a-row). We are playing well. If we keep working hard we can keep this thing (streak) alive,” said Colorado head coach Pi'i Aiu after the match.

Iowa State came into the match second in the Big 12 in blocks but the Buffs out blocked them 11-9 after being ranked 10^th out of 11 teams in the conference in the same category.

“I think we definitely picked (our defense) up. That has been our main focus in practice. Going for everything and not letting the ball hit the floor,” said sophomore Amber Sutherland who recorded a team-high 15 points for the Buffs tonight.

Lara Bossow was too much for the Cyclones to handle on the offensive end as she hit a career-high .833 with 10 kills on 12 attacks and zero errors. The Vail, Colo., native who came into the match ranked fourth in the Big 12 in hitting percentage, also tallied two total blocks and a service ace.

Colorado persevered 30-27 in a first game that featured eight ties to take the early lead over the Cyclones. The game was tied 18-18 when Bossow put down her third kill of the frame. The Buffs did not look back as they built a 28-24 lead before putting Iowa State away. Bossow and Ashley Nu'u starred for Colorado in the first game as they combined to hit .875 with Bossow adding a service ace.

The Buffaloes came out on fire in the second game of the match racing out to leads of 7-0, 15-7 and 20-11 before taking the 2-0 lead with a 30-21 victory. Bossow continued her hot night by putting down all four of her attack attempts in the frame. While CU hit .452 with 17 kills on 31 attacks and just three errors, the Buffs defense held the Cyclones to just a .048 attack percentage.

The match-clincher was the tightest game of the evening featuring eight ties and extra points before CU completed their second straight sweep of a Big 12 opponent.

The Buffaloes will be back in action Saturday in Columbia, Mo. when they take on the eighth ranked Missouri Tigers. Follow all the action with live stats on CUBuffs.com starting at 5:30 p.m. (MDT).