Buffs Sweep Albany, Improve To 9-1

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Justine Spann and Naghede Abu each recorded 11 kills as the Colorado Buffaloes improved to 9-1 with a sweep of Albany (0-11) on Saturday afternoon at Moby Arena. Set scores were 25-17, 25-13, 25-19.

WHAT HAPPENED: Spann recorded her first career double-double with 11 digs in addition to her 11 kills. She also added three aces in the win. Abu added four blocks and recorded a team-best .450 hitting percentage. Anna Pfefferle also had a great performance, posting four blocks and eight kills, and Stephanie Shadley tallied seven kills and 10 digs. Brynna DeLuzio again performed quite well, handing out 33 assists in addition to six digs.

Akuabata Okenwa led the Great Danes with 15 kills and had seven digs and Nicole Otero led UA with 14 digs.

SET 1: Colorado started the set with a 5-0 run before Albany was able to get on the board. The Buffs extended their lead to 12 points (17-5) when the Great Danes recorded a 10-0 run to cut CU's lead to just a pair (17-15). DeLuzio came up with a kill on the following point to give the Buffs a three-point lead. The two sides exchanged points until Colorado finished the set with a 6-0 run (25-17).

SET 2: The Buffs started the second set with a 7-4 advantage and went up 11-6 before the Great Danes used their first time out of the frame. UA was able to take four of the next six points, but the Buffs responded with three straight points of their own to go up 17-10, causing UA to use another timeout. CU took the next two points before UA was able to side-out, but the Great Danes only took three more points in the set as the Buffs rolled to a 25-13 victory.

SET 3: The set started out very close before the Buffs were able to get a five-point lead at 16-11 near the midway point. UA took the next point, but the Buffs responded with two straight points of their own for a six-point advantage and a UA timeout. The Great Danes were able to take five of the next six point to bring the score to 19-17, but the Buffs responded with five straight points and went on to take the set 25-19.

NOTEABLE: The Buffs are 9-1 to start the season…CU leads the all-time series against Albany 2-1… This was the fifth sweep for the Buffs this season.

TEAM STATISTICS: CU hit .273 with 44 kills and 14 errors on 110 attacks, while Albany hit .062 with 30 kills and 23 errors on 113 attacks. Both teams recorded 47 digs, but the Buffs out-blocked the Great Danes 8.0-1.0. Colorado also had four aces, while UA did not record one. CU had 39 assists compared to 30 for UA.

NEXT UP: Colorado will be back on the court at 7 p.m. against No. 22 Colorado State at Moby Arena.

QUOTES:
Head coach Jesse Mahoney
Thoughs on the match against Albany
"It's always tough to play a late night and an early morning. We were able to sweep and get an opportunity for some other players, non-starters, to get some reps. I thought our outsides, Justine and Steph, did a really nice job. Lauren Dorrell also had some success as well. It's tough to complain about a sweep, but now it's time to get ready for tonight."

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Team Stats

Justine Spann

Naghede Abu

Anna Pfefferle

Stephanie Shadley

Players Mentioned

Naghede Abu

Brynna DeLuzio

Lauren Dorrell

Anna Pfefferle

Stephanie Shadley

Justine Spann

Players Mentioned

Naghede Abu

Brynna DeLuzio

Lauren Dorrell

Anna Pfefferle

Stephanie Shadley

Justine Spann