Colorado
16-12, 8-8Pac-12
Arizona
17-11, 7-9Pac-12
Buffs Continue Domination Over No. 19 Arizona With A Sweep
November 14, 2015 | Volleyball
BOULDER —The University of Colorado's domination of Arizona continued on Saturday night as the Buffs took down the No. 19 Wildcats 3-0 (25-14, 25-23, 25-19) at the Coors Events Center.
The Buffs have now won four straight matches against the Wildcats and in each of those matches, UA has been ranked no lower than 19. Colorado has also won five of the last six matches against Arizona, with this being the third straight victory in Boulder.
"I think we match up pretty well, but this particular match complete credit to these kids," head coach Liz Kritza said. "They understood the significance, they understood what we needed to do as a team and they came out to play; I could even tell in the warm-up. They were lively. Whatever it is they came to play today and I am really proud of the team effort."
"It wasn't just the win but the fashion which we won was a solid victory," Kritza said. "They executed and did what we talked about. When we had to make adjustments they did it quickly and it's great because we are going into the tail end of our regular season and we need that for postseason play. So their heads are in the right place and we needed this convincing win and this level of play more than anything from this group, so I am proud of them."
The win was also CU's sixth over a ranked opponent this year, the most in a single season. The previous record had been five, which the Buffs have done three times (2014, 1996 and 1993).
"It's a great feeling because it shows just how much more we need to improve and that we are going along with the records and breaking some as well," Alexis Austin said. "Every day we come in, we don't even think about that kind of stuff, so every time we hear that stuff [breaking records] it is news to us and a great accomplishment."
"I don't even think most of us think about the fact that our opponent is ranked," Anna Pfefferle said. "We just go out there and play. It's just another team in different jerseys and we just have to play our game and know what to expect from them. I think every time we do that we end up coming out strong and beating those ranked teams makes it even better."
More importantly, the Buffs won both matches this weekend to improve to 16-12 overall (8-8 Pac-12). The Wildcats are now 17-11 (7-9 Pac-12).
"This weekend was huge, especially coming off the three losses, but then again it's the Pac-12 anyone can win any given night: match-ups are better, some girls are on, and some girls are off," Austin said. "It was really great that we could come in and start off strong. We really knew the importance of this week and were able to get the two wins."
Nicole Edelman directed the Buffs to a .375 hitting percentage with 36 assists. Pfefferle led the team with a .667 hitting efficiency, recording eight kills on 12 errorless attacks. Austin hammered a match-best 15 kills and only committed one error to hit .438 on 32 swings. Gabby Simpson was also in double-digit kills with 13 kills.
CU's block posted 11.0 in the match, compared to UA's 4.0. Pfefferle put up six blocks assists to lead both teams, while Joslyn Hayes added five block assists. Katelyn Cuff and Simpson each added three block assists and Austin had two block solos and one block assist.
The Buffs picked up 43 digs to UA's 38, and were led by Cierra Simpson's 14. Edelman recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 10 digs.
The Wildcats were held to a .143 hitting percentage with 35 kills and 20 errors on 105 attacks. Kalei Mau, who ranks 17th in the NCAA in kills per set, recorded 12 kills while hitting .114. She also led the Wildcats with 12 digs.
The Buffs block was strong to start the first set, posting three straight to take a 5-1 lead. UA took its first timeout at 8-2 and then had to use its second by the time CU had taken a 12-5 lead. The Buffs increased their lead to 15-5 and cruised to a 25-14 set victory. CU hit .414 in the game with 15 kills and held UA to .056 (10 kills).
Gabbie Simpson ended the first set on this kill. #GoBuffs https://t.co/HduyI3PLKU
— Colorado Buffaloes (@cubuffs) November 15, 2015
Colorado got out to a slower start in the second set as UA went up 5-1 to start, but the Buffs responded and evened the set at 9-9. The two sides kept it close, but the Buffs needed to take a timeout after the Wildcats pulled ahead with a two-point lead at 16-14. CU retook the lead at 18-17 after putting together a four-point run. The Buffs increased it to three points at 21-18 and had a 24-21 lead when the Wildcats fought off a pair of set points, but Austin finished the frame with her 10th kill of the match (25-23).
One of Alexis Austin signature kills was how the Buffs took a 2-0 lead vs Arizona. #GoBuffs https://t.co/eGX9UmMCpI
— Colorado Buffaloes (@cubuffs) November 15, 2015
The third set started like the first, with the Buffs taking a strong lead (7-1). Colorado was able to stay in the lead and had a 16-9 advantage when Arizona took a timeout. The Wildcats made an attempt to claw back in the set, using a 3-1 run to cut CU's lead to four (17-13), but the Buffs held strong and went back up by six (19-13). UA cut the lead again to four (23-19), forcing CU to use a timeout. The break helped as Austin hammered a kill right after (24-19) and the Buffs finished the match on the following point with a block by Pfefferle and Gabby Simpson.
Is there a better way to end a match than a block, that's how CU topped Arizona. #GoBuffs https://t.co/zpr2To40pe
— Colorado Buffaloes (@cubuffs) November 15, 2015
Colorado hits the road next weekend for its final road trip of the regular season. CU will face No. 6 Stanford on Thursday, Nov. 19 and on Saturday, Nov. 21, the Buffs will take on California.
"One thing about playing in the Pac-12, you have two tough teams every week," Kritza said. "It doesn't matter where they stand in the conference; there are two legitimate matches every week. For us, we need to make sure that we're battle-tested on the road and we have serious business to tend. We have to make sure that we recover and enjoy this weekend; they enjoyed it. We need to enjoy that piece, but immediately turn the page and start preparing. Everybody is fighting right now, particularly teams that have numbers in front of their names."
