Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
5-9, 2-6Big 12
Baylor
10-8, 3-4Big 12
Spikers Fall To Baylor
October 09, 2010 | Volleyball
BOULDER - The University of Colorado volleyball team lost a tough match to Baylor University on Saturday night at the Coors Events Center. Set scores were 25-13, 25-21, 25-13.
"Tonight's match was clearly not a strong showing on the whole, but it unfortunately is a part of the building process of this program," coach Liz Kritza explained. "There are ups and downs in the learning curve of this relatively young squad, but the focus shifts toward rebounding and continual improvement, our initial goal for this season."
Colorado is now 5-9 overall and 2-6 in the Big 12. Baylor improved to 10-8 overall, 3-4 in the league.
Nikki Lindow was the top attacker for the Buffs, hammering nine kills. She also hit .316 to lead the team. Kerra Schroeder and Anicia Santos each recorded six kills in the effort.
"Nikki Lindow led the way offensively, but it will take more of our offensive weapons to get going to overcome a team that is hitting .333 as a whole," Kritza said.
Megan Beckwith recorded 11 digs in the contest and Schroeder added eight digs for the Buffs' defense. Richi Bigelow and Alyssa Valentine each picked up six digs.
The first set started out with the two teams exchanging point. The score was 12-10 in favor of the Bears when BU put together a 6-0 run to take an 18-10 lead in the set. The Buffs took three of the next four points to bring the score to 19-13, but the Bears struck back and finished the frame by taking the next six points.
Baylor took a 10-7 lead to start the second set, but then the Buffs went on a 4-1 run to tie the score at 11. CU took the lead at 14-13 before Baylor retook it at 16-15. The Buffs tied it up again at 20, but the Bears took three in a row to take a 23-20 lead. CU took the following point before BU finished the set 25-21.
The Bears took a 10-3 lead to start the third set and would hold the lead for the entire frame. Baylor went on to win the set 25-13.
"Baylor's got a good offense; they're fast and they know how to spread out the blocks," Santos said. "So sometimes, it's really hard to make too many adjustments to that without giving up on other places. It was just a difficult offense to adjust to and we didn't make the adjustments in time."
Colorado is back on the road on Wednesday, October 13 for a match against Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas. The contest is set for a 5:30 p.m. start.
"The leadership of this team is poised to take accountability and ownership to push this team forward to rebound after this performance," Kritza said. "Every conference opponent is tough and we will have to bounce back quickly to prepare for our upcoming match at Texas Tech. We will stay positive and focused on correcting our deficiencies in our play and move forward with great enthusiasm and determination."
"We did some great things and that's the thing about having a new team that's coming together," freshman Elysse Richardson said. "We learn what we can, and then we move on. It's all about learning. The more we learn and the more reps we get, we're going to get better. You're going to see us progressive drastically."
And don't forget to check out the latest news and highlights with coach Liz Kritza on This Week in Colorado Volleyball, exclusively on BuffsTV at CUBuffs.com/volleyball. New shows air every Tuesday.
