Buffs Head To Northern California to face Stanford and Cal

BOULDER — Colorado hits the road for one final regular season road trip, this time heading to northern California, to face No. 7 Stanford and California. The match against the Cardinal is Thursday, Nov. 19, at 5 p.m. MT at Stanford, Calif., while the contest versus the Bears is slated for an 8 p.m. MT start on Saturday, Nov. 21, in Berkeley, Calif.

Both matches will be streamed live as part of Pac-12 Digital Network and can be accessed at CUBuffs.com.

Colorado is 16-12 (8-8 Pac-12) after sweeping the Arizona schools at home last weekend. The Buffs upset then-No. 21 Arizona State 3-2 on Thursday night and on Saturday night, they swept then-No. 19 Arizona.

Senior Alexis Austin, the reigning Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week, leads the Buffs with 4.04 kills per set (fifth in the Pac-12) and is also attacking at a .260 clip. Sophomore Gabby Simpson ranks second on the team with 3.38 kills per set, while sophomore Anna Pfefferle is hitting a team-best .333, 10th best in the conference. Senior Nicole Edelman is directing the team to a .232 hitting percentage, the sixth best in the Pac-12. Edelman is averaging 9.81 assists per set (seventh in the Pac-12).

Defensively, junior Cierra Simpson is averaging 4.12 digs per set, which is seventh in the conference. Edelman is second on the team with 2.12 digs per set. At the net, the Buffs are led by freshman Naghede Abu who is averaging 1.20 blocks per set, eighth in the conference. Pfefferle is second on the team with 1.00 blocks per set.

Stanford is ranked seventh in the latest AVCA Poll. The Cardinal is tied for third in the Pac-12 standings (12-4) and is 18-6 overall. CU defeated SU earlier this season (25-23, 27-25, 23-25, 25-21) in Boulder, snapping a 14-match losing streak to the Cardinal for the Buffs first ever win in the series.

Cal enters the weekend with a 9-18 overall record. The Bears are tied for 10^th in the Pac-12 with a 3-13 record. The Buffs defeated Cal 3-1 (25-22, 36-34, 17-25, 25-17) in Boulder earlier this season. The all-time series is tied 5-5 as CU has taken the last four straight contests against the Bears.

Single match tickets are still available for CU's home matches. General admission seats are $5 and reserved seats are $8. Kids 12 and under are free. Tickets can be purchased online at CUBuffs.com, by calling 303-49-BUFFS, or at the Coors Events Center before home matches.