Buffs Come From Behind To Take Down No. 22 Colorado State

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — The Colorado Buffaloes rallied from a 0-2 deficit to defeat No. 22 Colorado State (10-2) in exciting 3-2 fashion on Saturday night at Moby Arena. Set scores were 21-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-14, 15-8.

The win marks the first for the Buffs (10-1) in Moby Arena since 1995 and also put an end to CSU's head coach Tom Hilbert's perfect record at Moby Arena against instate Colorado DI programs, which now stands at 51-1. This is also the second straight win over CSU for the Buffs as they defeated the Rams in 2016 (3-1) in Boulder.

WHAT HAPPENED: The Buffs earned their second straight win over the Rams as they also earned a 3-1 decision in Boulder in 2016. Junior Alexa Smith led the charge for the Buffs, hammering 25 kills while hitting .310. She also turned in a great defensive performance with 15 digs.

Smith had a lot of help from her entire team, including Frankie Shebby who tallied 16 kills and 11 digs. Senior Joslyn Hayes was a force on the right side, adding 11 kills while hitting .435 to lead the match.

At the net, senior Anna Pfefferle and freshman Brynna DeLuzio each posted four blocks. Pfefferle tallied four block assists, while DeLuzio had three block assists and one block solo. DeLuzio played a great all-around game, added 55 assists, two aces, 13 digs and four kills.

Colorado State was led by Sanja Cizmic's 16 kills. Breana Runnels added 13 kills and Jasmine Hanna tallied 11 in the effort.

SET 1: The two teams played a very even set, but when the game was tied 16-16, CSU was able to record a 6-0 run, giving the Rams a huge advantage near the end of the set. The Buffs did not let up and despite a great effort, the disadvantage was too much as CU dropped the first set 25-21. CU actually hit better than the Rams (.323 as compared to .241), but had six service errors on the frame.

SET 2: Again things were very close to start the game, but the Buffs were ready. CU had a 12-9 advantage when the Rams were forced to take their first timeout of the set. CU kept the pressure on and increased the advantage to 18-12, again making CSU take a timeout. The Buffs took the first point out of the break, but CSU was able to string together a 6-2 run to cut CU's lead to three (21-18). The Buffs took a timeout to regroup, but a short time later, the set was knotted at 23-23, forcing CU to take its second break of the set. CSU came out of the timeout with two points to win the set 25-23.

SET 3: CSU took at 14-11 lead in the set before the Buffs used a 4-0 run to go up 15-14, causing CSU to take a timeout. The Buffs increased their lead on the following point with a block by Smith, but the Rams were able to retake the lead with a 5-1 run (19-17). The two sided went back and forth, but the Buffs were able to sneak ahead at 22-21 and once again, CSU needed a break. The Rams tied the set up on the following point, but the Buffs were not going to let this one go and finished the frame with three straight points (25-22).

SET 4: The Buffs had a lot of momentum from the third set win, and it was evident in the fourth game. CSU had the 7-6 edge when the Buffs organized a 6-0 run to take a 12-7 lead. CSU sided-out, but was unable to maintain possession and the Buffs responded with another run, this time 5-0, to go up 17-8. CSU took the following two points, but the Buffs answered with three straight of their own (20-10) to take a 10-point lead. Colorado went on to take the game 25-14.

SET 5: Colorado used a 3-0 run to take an 8-5 lead in the final frame. CSU took a timeout at the side change, but it didn't slow the Buffs as they took the following two points for a five-point lead. After the Rams' second timeout, CU cruised to a 5-2 run to take the set, and the match, 15-8.

NOTEABLE: This is CU's second straight win against Colorado State…The last time CU defeated CSU in consecutive matches was in 1994 when they met in a home and away series…The last time the Buffs visited Moby Arena also went to five sets; CSU won the final set 16-14 to advance to the NCAA Sweet 16…The Buffs are now 5-15 against CSU in Fort Collins…CSU leads the all-time series 23-13…This is the start of three straight matches against ranked opponents for the Buffs.

TEAM STATISTICS: CU out-hit CSU. The Buffs recorded a .318 hitting percentage with 72 kills and 17 errors on 173 attacks, while the Rams hit .201 with 55 kills and 23 errors on 159 attacks. CU dished out 65 assists to CSU's 52. The Buffs also had the edge in blocks, posting 9.0 to CSU's 7.0, as well as aces (9-7). Both teams recorded 70 digs.

NEXT UP: Pac-12 play starts next as the Buffs travel to Salt Lake City, Utah, for a match on Sept. 22 against No. 16 Utah. CU will return to Boulder to host No. 4 Stanford on Sept. 24.

QUOTES:
Head coach Jesse Mahoney
General
"Well it's a really competitive match for all five sets. In the first two we kicked away some chances, made a lot of service errors. Especially in set two when we kind of were in control and let it go. But going in between two and three we just talked about continuing to do the same stuff, cleaning up a little bit. I felt we made great plays to win set three and really were in control in that point. I think we controlled the match in four and five. Every kid played great. We had a lot of great performance, especially our outsides. I thought we defended as well as we had all season. It was a lot of fun."

On Alexa Smith
"I think Alexa is a big game player. The coaching staff doesn't have to work hard to get players hyped up for this match. She was pretty hyped. She's so steady, she makes such great choices. We relied on her a lot, we fed her a lot of balls because she was scoring. She came up big."

On CSU Head Coach
"I'm not sure I look at it in those terms. Were happy to get every win, we're really happy to get an in state rivalry win. Tom has done a great job with this program. To be 51-1 is pretty good but I'm happy for our kids. I know they're excited to break the streak. I know they're excited and it was fun."

On Keeping The Momentum Of This Win Through To Pac-12 Play
"I think it's huge. We're 10-1 now. We've played three matches against elite teams, Illinois, Penn State and Colorado State. We're 2-1 in those matches. So we know we can play at that level. We're going into Pac-12 play to play two top 20 teams, one top 10 team and the following weekend we're doing the same thing. We're in a place where every match is going to be one like this and any opportunity to play in this type of match in this type of environment is only good for us."

Buffs Come From Behind To Take Down No. 22 Colorado State

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Team Stats

Alexa Smith

Frankie Shebby

Joslyn Hayes

Anna Pfefferle

Players Mentioned

Brynna DeLuzio

Joslyn Hayes

Anna Pfefferle

Frankie Shebby

Alexa Smith

Players Mentioned

Brynna DeLuzio

Joslyn Hayes

Anna Pfefferle

Frankie Shebby

Alexa Smith