Zimmerman Shines As CU Moves Past Texas A&M

Wednesday, September 27

Boulder, Colo.

7 p.m.

Colorado

Texas A&M

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

September 27, 2006 | Volleyball

By: Linda Sprouse, Assistant SID

BOULDER ? The University of Colorado (8-4, 4-1 Big 12) defeated Texas A&M (8-5, 1-4 Big 12) 30-23, 30-28, 30-22 at the Coors Events Center on Wednesday night. Amber Sutherland led the Buffs with 15 kills and 10 digs as she earned her sixth double-double of the year.

Colorado was in charge the whole match, in part to the stellar play of Austin Zimmerman. Zimmerman hit a match-high .733, tying a career-high. She recorded 11 kills on 15 errorless attacks.

“I think starting and getting in there early, versus getting in there after sitting the first game made a difference,” Zimmerman said. “Ashley was setting great balls and the defense was really good, so that helped. It was kind of a team effort.”

Ashley Nu'u passed out 41 assists and helped CU hit .287 on the night. Lauren Schaefer hit .421 with nine kills and Nu'u added four kills of her own.

With the win, the Buffs move to a 4-1 record in the Big 12. It is the second best start for CU in conference play since the Buffs started 7-2 in 2001.

“The Big 12 is so tough,” Aiu said “There's nothing wrong with going five in the Big 12. There's a lot of really, really good teams and whatever it takes to win, we will do it. If we can win in three, we will do it. If we can win in four or five, we'll do that.

“It is where we want to be. We're five games into a really tough Big 12. I don't think anything will be settled in the Big 12 until maybe midway through the second half. We just have to keep battling.”

“I think it is great,” Zimmerman said. “I think that we are going to keep winning and I really think this is a great team. We work hard and I think we are going to knock some of those top teams off and give them a run for their money. It's a great start.”

The Buffs are now 7-0 at Coors and are 3-0 at home in Big 12 matches.

“This is the first year I have seen our team play significantly better at home,” Zimmerman said. “The crowd is great and I think we are extremely comfortable at home. It's awesome.”

In the first game, Colorado took a 14-10 lead. Each team fired back and forth, but the Buffs kept the lead. CU extended its lead to 22-15. When the Buffs got to game-point at 29-20, the Aggies rattled off three straight points before the Buffs closed it out at 30-22. CU recorded six aces in the game, including two from Austin Zimmerman at the start of the game. Nu'u and Sutherland also added a pair. A&M also tallied five service errors.

The second set saw the two teams going back and forth and no team led by more than two until A&M took at 23-20 lead. Schaefer came back with a kill to bring the Buffs back within two. Then Lara Bossow entered the match and served up an ace, making the score 22-23. The Aggies took the next point, but kills from Gibson and Sutherland tied it up at 24. CU took back the lead at 27-26 with a kill from Zimmerman, forcing A&M to use a timeout. The Buffs closed out the game 30-28.

The third game, Colorado pulled away from the Aggies and took a three-point lead at 15-12. The Buffs increased their lead to 20-14 and finished the match to a 30-22. The Buffs hit a match-high .421 with 19 kills on 38 swings with three errors.

On the night, the Buffs committed 17 errors, but 12 were off of the A&M block.

Colorado will be back in action on Saturday, Sept. 30 against Oklahoma (11-3, 3-1 Big 12). The match wraps up a three-match homestand for the Buffs. The contest is set for a 7 p.m. start.

--COLORADO VOLLEYBALL--