Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
13-9, 5-5Pac-12
Washington
21-0, 10-0Pac-12
Buffs Fall Short Against No. 3 Washington
October 26, 2014 | Volleyball
SEATTLE, Wash. — The Buffaloes gave a great effort on Sunday afternoon against No. 3 Washington, but were unable to come away with the victory despite playing two very close sets as the Huskies defeated the University of Colorado 3-0 (28-26, 31-29, 25-14).
The Buffs lost the first two sets by just four total points and the stats were very close. CU out-hit the Huskies .238-.234 in the first set. The Buffs had 15 kills and five errors on 42 attacks, while UW had 17 kills and six errors on 47 swings. The second set was more of the same. The Buffs had a .200 hitting efficiency with 16 kills and seven errors on 45 attacks, while the Huskies hit .196 with 19 kills and nine errors on 51 tries.
The third set wasn't a good to the Buffs. They recorded just 13 kills and eight errors on 34 attacks to hit .147, while UW had 15 kills on 33 errorless attacks to hit .455.
Senior outside hitter Taylor Simpson led the Buffs with 16 kills and recorded her 13th double-double of the year with 10 digs. She also posted three blocks in the Buffs' effort. She had six kills in each of the first two sets, which included an error-free performance in the second game on 15 attacks.
Junior Alexis Austin had 10 kills against the Huskies. UW held her to a .125 hitting percentage with six errors on 32 attacks.
Freshman Gabby Simpson added seven kills in the effort and Anna Pfefferle and Neira Ortiz Ruiz each recorded four kills.
Defensively, sophomore Cierra Simpson had a great performance for the Buffs, picking up 21 digs. She had eight in the first set and seven in the second set before recording six in the final game. CU recorded 55 digs compared to UW's 42.
The Huskies had the slight edge in blocks at 7.5-7.0. Pfefferle and Taylor Simpson led the Buffs with three, while Gabby Simpson and Rachel Hargis each posted two blocks.
The Huskies were led by Krista Vansant, who tallied 15 kills and eight digs. Tia Scambray added 12 kills and seven digs. Melanie Wade and Kaleigh Nelson each collected four blocks for UW.
CU took a 12-8 lead in the first set, forcing the Huskies to take a timeout. The Buffs increased their lead to six points at 15-9, but UW took the next three points to cut the advantage to three at 15-12. CU continued to attack and went up 20-16 late in the set, causing UW to use its final timeout of the set. The Huskies took the next two points (20-18), and this time CU needed to take a break. The Huskies came back to even the set at 21-21, forcing the Buffs to use their final timeout of the game. The two sides battled back and forth and CU had set point twice, but each time UW came back to tie the game. The Huskies went on to take the set 28-26.
UW took a slight lead to start set two. The Huskies were up 10-8 when the Buffs recorded a 3-1 run to even the frame at 11-11. The Huskies regained the lead a few points later, but CU kept it close and was only down one point at 15-14 during the media timeout. UW used a 3-1 run out of the break to take an 18-15 advantage, forcing CU to use a timeout. The Buffs got back within one at 18-17 and tied it up a 19-19. CU went up 21-20, but again the Huskies tied it back up. The set went into extra points again, with each side having chances to finish it off. Ultimately it was UW that came away with the set win at 31-29.
The third set started off close before UW had a three point lead at 12-9. The Huskies put together a 4-0 run to increase the advantage to 17-9. The Buffs took the next three points (17-12), but that was the closest they would get as UW went on to finish the set 25-14.
CU continues its road swing with a pair of matches in the desert next week. The Buffs will face No. 15 Arizona on Oct. 31 and No. 17 ASU on Nov. 2. Both matches will be televised on Pac-12 Network.
Notes: For the fifth straight week, the Buffs have split matches, coming away with one win and one loss…Taylor Simpson recorded her 13th double-double of the season…CU's next five opponents are ranked in the top 25.
