COLLEGE STATION, Texas ? Amber Sutherland hammered 20 kills as Colorado defeated Texas A&M 25-30, 30-20, 30-28, 15-6 in front of 1,148 at the G. Rollie White Coliseum in College Station, Texas. This is the second straight year the Buffs have won a five-game match at A&M.
With the win, CU earned its first series sweep over the Aggies in school history. The Buffs defeated A&M 30-23, 30-28, 30-22 on Sept. 27 in Boulder. Colorado has won back-to-back matches against A&M; on Nov. 1, 2000 and Oct. 3, 2001, just not in the same year.
CU hit .207, despite 33 errors on 179 swings, in the match. Ashley Nu'u handed out 58 assists as CU recorded 70 kills. Mallori Gibson tallied 16 kills and hit .344. Lauren Schaefer notched 12 kills and hit .415. Austin Zimmerman notched six kills and hit a team-high .455.
The Buffs served up nice aces on the night. Alex Buth handed out four aces; one in each game except in the second game. Sutherland added a pair, as did Kristen Karlik. Gibson, who leads the team in aces, recorded one. A&M recorded eight on the night.
Colorado picked up 79 digs; while A&M totaled 64. Karlik lead the Buffs with 20. This is the fourth time this season Karlik has recorded at least 20 digs in a contest. Callie Webster picked up a season-high 17 digs. Sutherland recorded her ninth double-double of the season by recording 14. Buth and Gibson each added nine.
CU put up 11.5 blocks, just under A&M's 13.0. Nu'u led the Buffs with 5 block assists. Schaefer recorded a block solo and three block assists; while Lara Bossow put up four block assists.
The Buffs hit .065 by recording 16 kills on 46 swings with 13 errors in the first game. Colorado rebounded in the second game by collecting 13 kills and recorded just three errors to hit .345. Sutherland recorded 11 of her 20 kills in the third frame and hit .417 as CU hit .255. The Buffs hit .128 in the fourth set, but came back in the final game to hit .500 with six kills, one error and 10 attacks. A&M hit a match-low -.083 in the set.
The Buffs, who improved to 12-7 overall and 8-4 in the Big 12, will host No. 8 Texas on Saturday, Oct. 28 at the Coors Events Center. The match will be televised lived on Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain. Prior to the match, CU student-athletes will be on the concourse of the events center with a Trick-or-Treat Street. Fans who wear Halloween costumes will receive free admission to the match.
--COLORADO VOLLEYBALL--
