Colorado
11-6, 3-4Pac-12
Oregon
11-6, 4-3Pac-12
Buffs Fall to No. 21 Oregon Ducks
October 18, 2013 | Volleyball
EUGENE, Ore. — The University of Colorado volleyball team put up a battle but was unable to earn the road win as the Buffs fell 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-18) to the No. 21 Oregon Ducks on Friday night at Matthew Knight Arena.
Junior middle blocker Kelsey English led the Buffs with nine kills and hit a match-best .600 with no errors on 15 attacks. She also recorded three digs and added one block assist.
Nikki Lindow had seven kills for CU while posting four blocks (one solo and three assists). Taylor Simpson and Alexis Austin each had four kills in the effort and Kerra Schroeder added three kills. The Buff hit .128 in the match with 28 kills and 14 errors on 109 attacks. Nicole Edelman handed out 20 assists for the Buffs and tallied one kill.
Defensively Cierra Simpson picked up 10 digs, while Edelman and Schroeder each had six digs. Edelman also did well at the net with four blocks (one solo and three assists). CU had 38 digs and 7.0 team blocks in the match.
The Ducks hit .226 in the match with 47 kills and 21 errors on 115 swings. Liz Brenner led UO with 14 kills and Canace Finley and Martenne Bettendorf each contributed nine kills. Finley also posted four block solos and Amanda Benson had a match-high 16 digs.
The Buffs are now 11-6 overall, 3-4 in the Pac-12; while the Ducks improved to 11-6 overall and 4-3 in conference play.
CU took a 6-3 lead in set one after putting together a 5-0 run on Schroeder's serve, forcing the Ducks to use their first timeout of the set. Oregon came back to even the score at 9-9 and from there it was a back-and-fourth battle to the finish. CU had a 21-19 advantage over the Ducks before UO rallied back to finish the frame with six straight points (25-21). The Buffs out-hit UO in the set .143-.073. Each team recorded 11 kills in the game, but the Ducks had eight errors on 41 attacks while CU had just six errors on 35 attacks.
The second set was another close battle in the beginning before the Ducks took a 13-9 lead. The Buffs tried to stick with UO, but the Ducks increased their lead to 21-13 and finished the set 25-16. The Buffs hit .024 compared to UO's .189.
Oregon took an 8-5 lead in set three, so Kritza called her first timeout of the frame. The Buffs got back within one point at 11-10, but again the Ducks pulled ahead, this time going up 16-12. Once again CU got back within a point at 17-16 after a 4-1 run, this time forcing the Ducks to use a timeout. Out of that break, the Ducks recorded a 5-1 run (22-17) and the Buffs called their final timeout of the set. CU tried its best, but was unable to overcome the deficit and fell 25-18.
The Buffs return to action on Sunday, Oct. 20 against Oregon State at 12 p.m. MT in Corvallis, Ore.
