Buffs Fall Short Against No. 7 Huskies

Sunday, October 16

Seattle, Wash.

4:00 PM

Colorado

11-7, 3-5Pac-12

Washington

16-2, 6-2Pac-12

Colorado

Washington

October 16, 2016 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Linda Sprouse, Assistant SID

SEATTLE — Colorado senior Katelyn Cuff hit a match-high .647, but it was not enough as the Buffaloes fell 3-0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-21) to the seventh-ranked Washington Huskies on Sunday afternoon at Alaska Airlines Arena.

Washington leads the Pac-12 Conference with a 6-2 record and is 16-2 overall, while the Buffs are now 11-7 overall, 3-5 in the league.

WHAT HAPPENED: Cuff, who had not seen a significant amount of playing time since suffering an injury after the first weekend of action, made a huge impact against the Huskies for the Buffs. She not only led the match with her hitting percentage, but she also led the Buffs with 11 kills. Cuff did not commit a single error on 17 attacks.

Junior Gabby Simpson also reached double-digits for the Buffs in kills with 10 and added 14 assists and seven digs. Junior Stephanie Shadley recorded a team-best 13 digs in the effort, while senior Cierra Simpson had 10 digs.

SET 1: The Huskies took a 6-2 lead to start the match and increased it to 14-8 before the Buffs took their first timeout of the match. The Buffs sided-out on the next point, but UW strung together a 6-1 run to increase its advantage to 20-10, at which point the Buffs called their second break of the set. CU was able to pick up two more points in the set on kills from Cuff and Shadley before UW took the game 25-12.

SET 2: The Buffs were sticking with the Huskies pretty well to start the second set and were only down by two at 12-10 before UW recorded three straight points (15-10). After a quick timeout by the Buffs, UW took two more points to go up 17-10. CU tried to chip away at UW's lead and was able to bring the score back within five points (21-16), but the Huskies went on to close out the set 25-16 with four straight points.

SET 3: Washington started the third set off with a 10-5 lead, but the Buffs responded and got within one point at 12-11 with a 6-2 run. UW took the next two points, but the Buffs answered again with two of their own to stick with the Huskies (14-13). UW was able to put together a 3-1 run to go up 17-14, which forced CU to take a timeout. The Buffs answered with a kill from Alexa Smith and another from Cuff to once again bring the score within a point (17-16).

The two sides would continue to battle, but CU would need to take a timeout after UW went up 21-18. UW added another two points out of the break (23-19). The Buffs were not finished, responding with two points of their own (23-20), but they ran out of time as UW finished the set 25-21.

TEAM STATISTICS: The Buffs hit .213 with 36 kills and 25 errors on 115 attacks, while Washington hit .365 with 44 kills and six errors on 104 attacks. CU recorded 34 assists to UW's 43. CU out-dug the Huskies 47-46, but the Huskies out-blocked the Buffs 14.0-3.0. UW also had more aces than CU at 3-2.

NOTEABLE: The Buffs are now 11-7, 3-5 in the Pac-12… UW owns a 10-3 overall record against the Buffs with all three CU wins coming in Boulder…This was the eighth AVCA ranked team the Buffs have faced this year; CU is 4-4 in those matches…

PAC-12 STANDINGS: The Buffs are currently ninth (3-5) in the Pac-12 standings, but they aren't far from the top. Washington leads the league with a 6-2 mark, but there are seven teams tied for second at 5-3. CU is next (3-5), while Cal is 2-6. Oregon State and Arizona State both have a 1-7 mark in league play.

NEXT UP: Colorado will head back to Boulder for a pair of matches. The Buffs will host Oregon State on Friday, Oct. 21, at 6 p.m. and on Saturday, Oct. 22, CU will take on Oregon. Both matches will be at the Coors Events Center.

QUOTABLE:
Jesse Mahoney, head coach
"Washington played extremely well and we did not find a way to respond. We struggled in all phases of the game - which is disappointing coming after one of our more complete performances of the season on Friday."

"We've got work to do this week to prepare for two more tough opponents - but we will be energized to be playing at home."