Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
20-14
Colorado State
31-2
Brooks: Rams Outlast Buffs In Five, Advance In NCAAs
December 06, 2014 | Volleyball, B.G. Brooks
FORT COLLINS – It took five grueling sets for one of the University of Colorado's best volleyball seasons to end and the Buffaloes battled gallantly to keep it alive. Nonetheless it's over.
No. 9 Colorado State outlasted No. 19 CU 3-2 (25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 24-26, 16-14) on Saturday at maniacal Moby Arena. Down 0-2, the Buffs bounced back and gave a crowd of 6,011 – the fifth-largest audience to watch a volleyball match on the CSU campus – a show it likely won't forget.
"How's that for a match?" asked a disappointed but not disillusioned Liz Kritza, CU's coach. "It's probably one of the more interesting, exciting, hotly contested matches thus far in the tournament and good luck to Colorado State as they advance . . .
"I want to point out the strength and perseverance of our players. A lot of teams go down 0-2 against a strong team like CSU and they couldn't get themselves back in it. But this group of players did and made a match out of it."
It was a match that could have gone either way, but ultimately it went the way of the home team, which improved to 59-5 against in-state rivals who visit Moby. The Buffs are 11-23 against the Rams, including 4-15 in their venue. CSU leaves it next weekend for Minneapolis, where its NCAA regional foe on Friday is Texas. The region's other two entries are Oregon and North Carolina.
Kritza called 2014 a "transformational season" for the Buffs, who won 20 or more matches (20-14) for the 11th time in school history and the first time since 2003. But they couldn't break the Rams' postseason spell; CSU (31-2) moved to 4-0 against CU in NCAA Tournament play, dropping CU's all-time NCAA record to 11-18.
Kritza said although her players were upset that their season had ended, they offered "a true testament" of where CU's program is headed as well as "who they are as people and competitors. Although they're upset, there's only one team that gets to end it (tournament) with a press conference and talk about winning."
Kritza also said Buffs didn't play as well as they could have and suffered from too many unforced errors: "We're very honest with each other . . . we know we can play at a higher level."
Still, the Buffs got record-setting performances from seniors Taylor Simpson and former CU basketball player Rachel Hargis. In setting a single match career kill mark with 32, Simpson surpassed 20 kills again Saturday. It marked the 10th time this season she has reached 20 or more, which set a school record. Hargis, who joined the volleyball team for a final season of eligibility, recorded career highs in kills (6), blocks (4) and points (9.0).
While Simpson and Alexis Austin (12) carried the kill load for the Buffs, the Rams had four players reach double digits in kills. Simpson said CSU's "outside hitters were unstoppable for us. We didn't expect them (CSU) to hit as well as they did, and we may have overlooked them a little bit, but best of luck to them in the regional."
A tearful Simpson said even though the Buffs came back gamely and forced a fifth set, the outcome "stinks, obviously. But it's (her performance) a true testament to my teammates and my team. I couldn't do it without them and I'm going to miss them a lot."
Sophomore Cierra Simpson, the Buffs' middle Simpson sibling, said for the players returning, "We have to start over, we have to move on, work harder and just get better for next season."
The Buffs went up 1-0 on a Gabby Simpson kill in the first set, and it must have been a sweet start for the youngest Simpson sister on the CU roster. She initially committed to CSU but switched to CU. Rams fans didn't forget, chanting "Traitor, Traitor" every time she served.
But after that initial kill and a 1-0 lead, the Buffs never led again in the set. CSU was up by as many as five points twice in the initial set before CU rallied for a 16-16 tie on Katelyn Cuff's tip over the net.
From there, the Rams never held more than a 3-point lead, but the Buffs could never overtake them. They pulled to within one point three times, but CSU eked out its 25-22 first-set win, despite Taylor Simpson's set-high seven kills.
In the second set, the Rams went ahead 3-0 before the Buffs pulled even at 3-3 on a service ace by Cierra Simpson. The teams traded points and were tied at 6-6, 7-7 and 10-10, with a block by Hargis forging the 10-10 tie.
But after that block, the Rams reeled off three straight points to go up 13-10 and force a Buffs timeout. A kill by Jasmine Hanna pushed CSU up by its largest margin of the set – 18-13 – and brought the Buffs to the sidelines for another timeout. The break must have settled them; starting with a Taylor Simpson kill, they crept to within 18-16 – and it was the Rams' turn to talk it over.
They broke CU's serve on a hard kill by Adrianna Culbert, then went up 20-17 on another Culbert put away. But the Buffs kept battling, and made it 21-20 on Austin's tap over the net. It was as close as CU got.
A service ace by Deedra Foss put the Rams within a point of finishing the set at 24-21. The Buffs couldn't handle a tap at the net that ended it at 25-21 and put them within one lost set of being swept and bowing out of the NCAA Tournament.
That wasn't in Taylor Simpson's or any of her teammates' plan. Behind her three consecutive kills, the Buffs rolled to a 5-1 third-set lead and increased it to 7-1. Fueled by three consecutive Hargis kills, CU shot ahead 14-6 and quieted the raucous Moby crowd.
The silence didn't last long. The Rams fashioned a 9-3 run, closing to 17-15, then 19-18 and 20-19 before CU wanted a timeout. The Buffs came out of the break, got a Taylor Simpson smash and went up 21-19. CSU closed to 23-22, then tied the score at 23.
An Austin kill took CU to 24-23, and she followed with another to end the set at 25-23. The Buffs still had life, but they needed to win another two sets to make the night a success.
They went up 1-0 in the fourth set on a Hargis block, but lost their lead at 5-4 on a Gabby Simpson shot that was blocked back into her. After CSU increased its lead to 8-5, the Buffs halted play with a timeout and began creeping back into the set.
They caught the Rams at 11-11, then pulled ahead 19-16 on a soft kill at the net by Anna Pfefferle. CSU rallied with four straight points for a 20-19 advantage, but Austin spiked the Buffs into a 20-20 tie.
The score was locked three times before a blocked Taylor Simpson kill gave the Rams a 24-23 edge. Simpson followed with a rocket of a kill that was ruled to have touched a Ram and tied the score. Then, Austin put away another spike (25-24, CU) and Simpson – who else? – ended the comeback with a vicious kill to send the match to its fifth set.
The Buffs opened the last set with a 1-0 advantage, fell behind 9-7 then pulled to a 9-9 tie as Taylor Simpson recorded her 30th kill – a career high. CSU went ahead 11-9, but CU quickly caught up and tied the score on another Hargis block, then took a 12-11 edge.
With the score at 13-13, a Rams service error put the Buffs up 14-13 with Taylor Simpson serving. CSU tied it when Hargis was caught in the net, then went up 15-14 when an Austin kill didn't clear the net. The match ended seconds later when the Buffs were stymied at the net by an Alexandra Poletto block that she called "kind of a blur. All I remember is seeing the ball go down and I don't even know who it was – one of their players trying to dig it. From there, the excitement takes over."
Or for the Buffs, the heartache. One of CU's best seasons was done, but it set a standard for the returning Buffs.
"Tonight shows just how much heart this team has," Cierra Simpson said. "I think everybody on the team has been battling an injury of some kind or are currently injured. But I think going down 0-2, we could have just rolled over and died but we didn't.
"We fought back, came back. It didn't turn out the way we wanted, but I think we can take the heart we played with and move into next season with it."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
