Colorado
14-11, 6-7Pac-12
UCLA
19-4, 10-3Pac-12
Buffs Hang Tough, But Fall At No. 9 UCLA
November 04, 2015 | Volleyball
LOS ANGELES — Senior Alexis Austin recorded 13 kills but it wasn't enough as the University of Colorado lost a very closely contested match to No. 9 UCLA on Wednesday night at Pauley Pavilion, 25-23, 26-24, 25-17.
Redshirt sophomore Joslyn Hayes had a great match for the Buffs, recording nine kills and just one error to hit .364 (22 attacks). Sophomore Gabby Simpson had eight kills in the match and sophomore Anna Pfefferle added seven kills.
As a team, the Buffs hit .297 with senior Nicole Edelman handing out 33 assists. CU tallied 44 kills and nine errors on 118 attacks.
Freshman Naghede Abu hit .500 to lead the Buffs. She recorded five kills on 10 errorless attacks. Pfefferle also did not have an error in the match and hit .318 with 22 swings.
The Bruins hit .313 with 51 kills and 15 errors on115 attacks. Jessyka Ngauamo led UCLA with 19 kills and hit .317, while Jordan Anderson was also in double-digits with 10 kills.
The Buffs picked up 40 digs. Austin and Edelman each had nine digs and Gabby Simpson recorded eight digs. CU out-blocked UCLA 5.0-3.0. Abu, Hayes and Pfefferle each posted two blocks in the match.
CU started off well in the first set. The Buffs were up 15-12 at the media timeout and were hitting .458 with 11 kills and no errors on 24 swings. UCLA was also hitting well at .429 with 11 kills and two errors on 21 swings.
After the timeout, the Bruins got within a point of the Buffs with two straight points (15-14). UCLA tied the set up at 16-16, but Austin put the Buffs back up with a kill (17-16). The Buffs had a 22-20 lead late in the frame when the Bruins called a timeout. UCLA took the next two points, forcing CU to take its first timeout of the match. The Bruins recorded another pair of points after that timeout, causing CU to take another timeout. Hayes recorded a kill after the break, but UCLA won the set on the following point. (25-23). The Buffs ended up hitting .306 in the frame, while UCLA hit .400.
CU was down 12-6 in the second set and rallied back to even the game at 15-15. The Buffs took a timeout after UCLA went back up 17-15 and came back to tie the set up at 17-17 after two kills from Austin. CU would go up 19-18 and had a two-point lead at 22-20, but was unable to hold off the Bruins who came back to even the set again (22-22).
The game was tied again at 23-23 and after a Pfefferle kill the Buffs had set point. UCLA fought off the set point with a kill by Claire Felix and went on to take the game with a kill from Zana Muno and an ace by Rachel Inouye.
The Bruins took a 9-6 advantage to start the third set, causing the Buffs to take a quick timeout. CU rallied back to get within a point at 10-9, but UCLA answered with two straight points (12-9). The Buffs took another timeout after the Bruins went up 16-10. CU took three straight t points with a kill from Abu, an attack error by UCLA and a block off Austin and Abu (16-13) to get back into the game.
UCLA (19-4, 10-3 Pac-12) fired back with three points of its own (19-13) and the deficit would prove to be too much for the Buffs to recover from as the Bruins closed the set 25-17 and won the match.
The Buffs, who are now 14-11 (6-7 Pac-12) will face second ranked Southern California on Friday, Nov. 6. The match is set for a 9 p.m. MT start and will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks.
