Colorado University Athletics

Friday, November 4
Boulder, Colo.
6:00 PM

Colorado

12-11, 4-9Pac-12

1
vs
3

Stanford

15-6, 9-4Pac-12

1
2
3
4
F
Stanford
25
25
14
25
3
Colorado
19
16
25
20
1
Alexa Smith

No. 13 Stanford Tops Buffs In Four

November 04, 2016 | Volleyball

BOULDER— A pair of Buffaloes, Alexa Smith and Gabby Simpson, each recorded 10 kills as Colorado dropped a four-set match (25-19, 25-16, 14-25, 25-20) to No. 13 Stanford on Friday night at Coors Events Center. The Buffs are now 12-11 overall (4-9 in the Pac-12), while Stanford improved to 15-6 (9-4 Pac-12).
 
WHAT HAPPENED: Simpson earned her eighth career triple-double in the effort, recording 15 assists and 11 digs in addition to her 10 kills, while Smith was just one dig shy of her 12th double-double this season with nine digs. Cierra Simpson led the Buffs with 16 digs, while Anna Pfefferle posted a team-best seven blocks, two solos and five assists.
 
SET 1:  The Buffs were up 5-4 in the first set when Stanford strung together a 7-0 run to take an 11-5 lead. CU fought back, narrowing the lead to five points at 22-17, but ran out of time as the Cardinal finished the game 25-19.
 
SET 2:  Colorado again had an early lead (6-5) before the Cardinal used five straight points to take a 10-6 lead. The Buffs responded with a 6-2 run to bring the score within a point at 13-12. SU had a narrow 15-12 lead at the media timeout and was able to keep the momentum on its side, recording the following six points (21-12). The Buffs were able to side out on the following point, but could not make a run to get back in it and fell 25-16.
               
SET 3: The Buffaloes took a 9-6 lead to start the third set, forcing SU to take a timeout. CU took the following two points, increasing the lead to 11-6. The Cardinal took its second timeout of the set a short time later after the Buffs recorded another pair of points (13-7). There was no stopping CU as the advantage was increased to 12 points at 22-10 and the Buffs easily finished the set 25-14.
 
SET 4: The fourth set was very close. The Buffs lead 16-15 with the Cardinal recorded four straight points to take a 19-16, causing CU to take a quick timeout. Stanford took three of the next four points to take a 22-17 advantage in the set and despite the effort by CU, the Buffs fell 25-20.
 
TEAM STATISTICS: The Buffs hit .150 with 44 kills and 24 errors on 133 attacks, while Stanford hit .203 with 55 kills and 26 errors on 143 attacks. CU recorded 40 assists to the Cardinal's 49. The two teams each recorded 57 digs but Stanford had the edge in blocks (13.0-11.0).  
 
NOTEABLE: Stanford owns a 17-1 lead in the all-time series against the Buffs…The Buffs are 4-8 against AVCA Top-25 Teams this season…CU has now lost four straight matches…For the second straight match, CU and its opponent have recorded the same amount of digs…Gabby Simpson recorded her seventh triple-double of the season to set a CU single season record…The previous record was six by Elizabeth Gower in 2000…Her eight career triple-doubles is second in CU history – the record is 10 (Elizabeth Gower).
 
NEXT UP: Colorado hosts California on Sunday, Nov. 6, at 12 p.m. at Coors Events Center.   
 
QUOTABLE:  
Jesse Mahoney, head coach
ON LOSING A BIG GAME
"We don't look at it that way, I think that we look at every match as an opportunity and there are wins on the board that we want to get. I wouldn't say that it hurts, it just puts a little more pressure on us. It crystalizes the need for us to get better coming down the stretch. We have seven more matches to play and we feel that we can be competitive in each one of them."
 
ON IMPROVEMENT IN THE THIRD MATCH
"We sided out extremely well and passed extremely well in the third set. We got them caught in their two hitter rotation and they struggled to score. We did a lot of things really well and executed our game plan for an extended period of time. It was fun to see but we are a little Jekyll and Hyde at times. In that third set you can see how good we can be."
 
ON PLAYERS NOT GIVING UP
"Down two zero and not playing particularly well there is a natural tendency to give up and we certainly didn't do that. I thought that we played extremely well and responded, I think that there is value to that. I think that this team has played a ton of competitive matches, we have been in four to five sets in almost every one of our matches and we never give up. That is something I am very proud of."
 
Anna Pfefferle, Middle Blocker
ON DIFFERENCE IN THIRD SET
"I think it's just us focusing on those technical things. I think the overall energy on the floor can be better. It can be hard when you're playing against big games, you get those hard hitting swings and to be able to bounce back from that and to hit one right back at them is a big thing. There is so much momentum in volleyball and I think focusing on the positives rather than the negatives helped us a lot in the third set. Getting some momentum and using that to our advantage."
 
PREPARING FOR MATCH AGAINST TOP BLOCKING UNIT IN THE NATION
"We don't really look at it like that. Every team in the Pac-12 is good at different things. Extremely good at different things. So going into each match we focus on the ways that we can downplay their strength and help play ours. We knew we had to spend time on hands and look for open shots and everything. But I don't think we really go into it timid or thinking that they're the best blocking team in the nation in a negative way. But how we can around that I guess."
 
ON WHAT WAS WORKING TONIGHT
"Just executing our game plan. We get game plans from our coaches and see what their tendencies are and focusing on that when you're blocking and trying to stay clean. Good touches is the bigger thing but getting the blocks was good to."
 
Stephanie Shadley, Outside Hitter
ON IF IT'S TOUGH BEING ON A LOSING STREAK
"I wouldn't say so. I think we're good at focusing on the match that's up next and moving forward in progress."
 
ON THE NEXT MATCH AGAINST CAL
"Every match is a big match. And same thing we'll prepare just as much as this game and stay focused on that right now and the next game."
 
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