Colorado
7-4
George Mason
5-9
Buffs Take Down George Mason, Improve to 3-0 at Omni Invite
September 20, 2015 | Volleyball
BOULDER — The University of Colorado volleyball team improved to 3-0 at the Omni Invitational after defeating George Mason 3-1 (25-15, 23-25, 25-6, 26-24) on Sunday morning.
The Buffaloes improved to 7-4 overall with the victory and will face Air Force on Sunday night at 7 p.m. in the final match of the invitational. It will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Network.
Sophomore Gabby Simpson had another outstanding performance, leading the Buffs with 16 kills. She also tied a career-high with five aces and added three digs and four blocks.
Sophomore Anna Pfefferle led CU with a .438 hitting percentage with nine kills and just two errors on 16 attacks. She led the team with six blocks, one solo and five assists. Freshman Naghede Abu was third on the team with eight kills and also posted five block assists.
In total the Buffs tallied 49 kills and hit .241, while putting up 12.0 blocks. GMU hit .092 with 33 kills and had 8.0 blocks. Senior Nicole Edelman handed out 35 assists and added three kills.
The Buffs also out-dug the Patriots 45-30. Junior Cierra Simpson picked up 13 digs, while Edelman had eight.
GMU was led by Morghan Martin's 13 kills and Lola Owokoniran put up six blocks.
The Buffs took control of the first set from the get go, taking a 7-3 lead. The Patriots recorded the next two points to get within two (7-5), but then CU recorded an 11-2 run to go up 18-7 and GMU was never able to recover as CU rolled to a 25-15 set victory.
The second set started out a lot closer. It was tied four times until the Buffs took an 8-7 lead. CU extended its lead to 15-11 on a Gabby Simpson ace, her fourth of the match, causing the Patriots to call a timeout. The Buffs took the following point with a block by Edelman and Pfefferle to take a five-point advantage (16-11).
The Patriots got the score back to within three at 19-16, and this time the Buffs decided to take a timeout. CU pulled back ahead with two straight points, but GMU answered with a 4-0 run to bring the score to 21-20, causing the Buffs to take their second timeout. The Patriots evened the score on the next point and eventually took the lead at 24-23 with an ace. They won the set on the following point (25-23).
CU scored nine straight points to take a 10-1 lead in the third set. The Buffs didn't let up, increasing the advantage to 13 at 15-2. CU went on to close the set 25-6. CU hit .600 with six kills on 10 errorless attacks, while GMU recorded just one kill and had four errors on 11 swings to hit .-.273.
GMU had a 10-4 lead in the fourth set before the Buffs started to chip away at the advantage. CU got the score within two points at 13-11, but the Patriots pulled away again to a four point lead (17-13). Gabby Simpson went to work for the Buffs, recording four of their next points with three kills and an ace to bring the Buffs within one (18-17). After a GMU timeout, Pfefferle and Edelman combined for a block to even the score (18-18).
The Buffs took the lead at 20-19 thanks to an ace by freshman Abbie D'Agosta and increased the advantage to a pair with a kill from Austin (21-19). The Patriots came back to tie the frame at 22-22 and took the lead with a block on the following point.
After CU took its second timeout of the set, Austin recorded a kill to even the game (23-23). GMU had set point after recording a kill (24-23), but the Buffs answered with three straight points to take the set 26-24.
