FORT COLLINS, Colo. ? The University of Colorado volleyball team dropped Miami University (Ohio) at the Hilton Classic in Fort Collins, Colo. 30-21, 30-26 and 30-14. Freshman middle blocker Schylur Edelman had an outstanding night with seven kills, six blocks (one solo and five assists) and hit .333.
“Schylur played terrific tonight and that is what we need out of our middles,” head coach Pi'i Aiu said. “We need our freshmen to step up and have nights like that and to get our setters comfortable setting them and that is going to help us going into the Big 12 schedule this year.”
“Obviously I was a little tired since it was the third day, but I just came out really excited and played with a lot of energy,” Edelman said about her performance.
Colorado recorded 43 kills and hit .243. The Buffs picked up 46 digs and put up 9.0 blocks in the match against the RedHawks. Mallori Gibson led with 13 kills and put up four blocks (two solos and two assists). Lauren Schaefer hit .389 with nine kills. Kaitlyn Burkett recorded four kills on seven attempts to hit .571 and handed out 33 assists. Callie Webster led the Buffs with 17 digs.
Miami was held to 36 kills and recorded 25 errors to hit .096. MU picked up one more dig than the Buffs (47) and had 5.0 blocks.
The first two games were fairly close, but CU shot out of the gate in the third set to secure the victory.
“Miami competes so well, but we just started digging balls in game three and we did a nice job on defense and we kept the ball back on them,” Aiu said.
CU finished the tournament with a 2-1 record and took second. (Colorado State won the tournament.) The Buffs improved to 5-3 on the season. Gibson and Webster were named to the all-tournament team for their performances.
“I would have liked to take CSU one or two more games regardless of the outcome, but we played really well this weekend and I am excited,” Aiu said.
The first game was extremely close with neither team taking more than a three-point lead until CU pulled out a 5-1 run to take a 24-20 lead. Out of Miami's first timeout, the Buffs put together another 3-1 run, which included two attack errors by MU, to force the RedHawks to use their final timeout. CU finished out the set with kills from Gibson and Edelman and an error by MU. Gibson led the Buffs with six kills.
Colorado started to pull ahead of the RedHawks with a 6-2 run in the second game to take an 18-12 advantage. MU took six of the next seven points, but the Buffs stormed back with five straight to take a 24-18 lead. The RedHawks narrowed the lead to two-points at 26-24, but Edelman fired back with a huge kill to sideout. Colorado finished the game at 30-26. Once again Gibson led the team with five kills. Webster recorded seven digs in the frame.
The Buffs got out to a 10-2 lead in the third game with Buth serving for six of CU's points. Colorado continued to hold strong and pulled ahead to 10-point lead at 22-12. The Buffs' largest lead of the match would be the 16 points at the end of the game (30-14). Edelman kicked it in to high in the third game with three blocks.
“We talked about staying focused in the locker room because we have let down in third games before,” Edelman said. “We knew the other team was really tired and I felt if I came out with a lot of energy, then the rest of the team would feed off of that.”
The Buffaloes finished their non-conference schedule with a 5-3 record, marking the 19th straight season they have finished at or above .500. CU will start the Big 12 schedule on Sept. 12 against Texas Tech in Lubbock. The match is set for a 6 p.m. (MST) start. This is the second straight year Colorado will start the conference schedule against TTU.
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