MANHATTAN, Kan. ?The University of Colorado volleyball team fell short versus K-State 30-19, 21-30, 30-28, 24-30, 16-18 here tonight in Manhattan, Kan. It was a school-record 10th five-game match of the season for the Buffs.
The match notched 41 tied and 20 lead changes. Colorado recorded 71 kills to the Wildcats' 58, but K-State tallied a .328 hitting percentage to Colorado's .309.
Colorado got out to a 16-12 lead in the first game. The Buffs fell behind early (8-10), but went on an 8-2 run to retake the lead and cause a K-State timeout. Off the timeout, CU took a six-point lead at 20-14 and caused the Wildcats to use another timeout. Colorado kept fighting and took an 11-point lead, the largest of the frame, at 29-18 and again at 30-19 to close out the game.
Sophomore Amber Sutherland smacked down seven errorless kills on nine attempts for a .778 hitting percentage in the first game. The Buffs recorded just one error in the set and hit .605. CU collected 24 kills, 22 assists, 17 digs and one block to K-State's 12 kills, 11 assists, nine digs and zero blocks.
The second game started like the first, however, this time K-State took a 16-12 lead and CU took a timeout. Colorado took its second timeout just seven points later at 15-20. The Wildcats added to their lead and took a 10-point lead at 26-16 before CU rallied back with three straight points off of K-State errors. The Wildcats came back and took the frame 30-21.
Colorado hit just .029 in the game, collecting 12 kills with 11 errors on 35 swings. K-State recorded 10 kills and four errors on 30 attacks. Allie Griffin knocked tallied four kills in the set.
The third game was close most of the way until Colorado took a five-point lead at 28-23. K-State wasn't finished and pulled within one at 28-29, but the Buffs closed the game to go up 2-1 in the match. Colorado hit .378, but the Wildcats recorded a .405 hitting percentage. Sutherland led CU with seven kills in the set.
The Buffs got off to a slow start in the fourth game as K-State took a 6-3 advantage. The Wildcats kept the lead and CU found themselves down 12-16, just like in the second frame. This time, CU rallied and took a 7-3 run to regain the lead at 19-18 before the Wildcats took a timeout. K-State came back, scoring 12 of the next 16 points to close of the frame 30-23.The Wildcats hit .467 in the game and held CU to .205.
The final game started off 5-2 in favor of the Wildcats. The Buffs came back and took a 7-6 lead on an ace by Ashley Nu'u, but K-State took the next four points and a 10-7 lead. Colorado fought back to tie the game at 11. The game would be tied another five times before K-State was able to shut down the Buffs at 18-16.
Sutherland led the Buffs with 22 kills and tied a career-high. She hit .529 in the match and added six digs and two blocks for a match-high 23 points. Griffin hammered 15 kills on 41 attempts. She also recorded six assists and eight digs. Nicole Carr added 11 kills for the Buffs and Nu'u passed out 59 assists. She tacked on seven kills, five digs, two blocks and hit .429.
Colorado heads back home for its final home match of the season against Texas A&M on Sat., Nov. 19. The match is slated for a 7 p.m. start and will be senior night.
- Colorado Volleyball-
