Colorado University Athletics
Cierra Simpson 'Digs' Success
October 20, 2015 | Volleyball
BOULDER — When Cierra Simpson arrived on campus at the University of Colorado, she had never played the libero position. It's not to say that she didn't play defense, but she was an offensive player, having played outside hitter, middle blocker and even setter during her high school career.
That all changed when she got to CU and since then, she has made a name for herself, becoming one of the best defensive players in Buffaloes history.
Simpson eclipsed CU's rally-scoring era career digs record of 1,170 last weekend. That record was set in 2005 by Nicole Carr (2002-05). Simpson, a junior tri-captain, still has the rest of this season and a full senior campaign ahead to add even more to the record. The Buffs overall career digs record stands at 1,540, which was set by Karrie Downey from 1991-94.
“CeCe has an insatiable desire to be excellent and her unparalleled work ethic has allowed her to develop into one of the great liberos in the league and the country,” head coach Liz Kritza said. “She has serious goals for her game and for this team and she works every day to make sure those goals are becoming a reality.”
“It's a huge honor,” Simpson said about breaking the record. “I totally could not do this without the teammates I have besides me. It's very special and exciting and gives me a lot of confidence moving forward.”
Last weekend, Simpson tied a career-high 31 digs in a 3-1 decision against Cal. It was the second time in three matches that she had recorded 31 digs, the other coming against top-ranked USC on Oct. 9. With those performances, she became just the third Buff to hit the 30-dig mark more than once in CU history.
“CeCe is continuing to improve, simply because she knows she can,” Kritza said. “She often works with assistant coach Ryal Jagd to refine and retool even the smallest parts of her game to ensure that she does her job for this team and continues to improve.”
When she came to CU, Simpson had no idea what position she was going to play, but told Kritza to 'put me wherever she wanted me' and now she is so grateful for the opportunity and is having a lot of fun.
As a libero, Simpson only plays in the back row. The position doesn't carry the recognition that offensive positions receive, but Simpson, who was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week on October 5, has found a way to motivate and challenge herself without the offensive accolades she used to receive.
“When I first started playing this position that was the biggest adjustment for me,” Simpson said “I was so used to being the one who scored the points. When I sit down and really look at it, this position doesn't get a lot of glory, but it's an important position and gets overlooked. We are keeping the other team from scoring points and to have the ability to frustrate the other team, in my opinion, is almost better than scoring the actual point.
“A big motivator for me is being able to take the wind out of the hitter's sail,” Simpson continued. “You can get a great dig and look at the other team and see that they look deflated because they put everything they had into that ball. For me, that is my personal victory.”
The Colorado Springs, Colo. native, currently ranks fifth in the Pac-12 Conference with 4.05 digs per set and she is second in conference only matches with 4.97 digs per set. Simpson recorded her 1,000-career digs on Sept. 18 against Montana State, becoming just the 14th Buff to reach that milestone. Last season, Simpson set the single season overall and sophomore digs record at 519.
There is certainly more to come for this talented defensive player. “We are proud of her efforts and happy that she is in a Buffs jersey,” Kritza said.
