Colorado University Athletics
Brynna DeLuzio and Alexa Smith
Pac-12 Honors DeLuzio and Smith; Buffs Enter Rankings at 25th
September 18, 2017 | Volleyball
BOULDER — The week is off to a great start for the Colorado Buffaloes volleyball team. Freshman setter Brynna DeLuzio was named the Pac-12 Volleyball Freshman of the Week and junior outside hitter Alexa Smith was selected as the Pac-12 Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week. In addition, the 10-1 Buffs jumped into the AVCA Division I Coaches Poll at 25th.
Both Deluzio and Smith played key roles for CU as the Buffs rolled to a 3-0 mark in the final week of non-conference play, which included a 3-2 victory over in-state rival No. 22 Colorado State in Fort Collins, Colo. The Buffs also defeated Xavier (3-1) and Albany (3-0).
DeLuzio averaged 13.67 assists per set, guiding the Buffs to 15.00 kills per set and a .275 team hitting percentage. She recorded a career-high 55 assists in two of the three matches. She handed out 55 assists on Sept. 15 against Xavier and earned a double-double with 15 digs, tying a career-high. In the win over CSU, she also had 55 assists and earned her second double-double of the weekend with 13 digs while directing the Buffs to a weekend best .318 hitting percentage.
Smith played in two of the three matches for the Buffs and averaged a team-best 4.56 kills per set while adding 3.33 digs per set. She started the weekend with 16 kills and 15 digs against Xavier on Sept. 15, for her third double-double of the season. In CU's upset at CSU, which was CU's first win at Moby Arena since 1995, Smith hammered a career-high 25 kills, the third most by a Pac-12 player this season, and hit .310 while adding 15 digs for her fourth double-double this season. She served up a pair of aces and posted one block solo in the win.
These are the first conference player of the week honors for both, and the 10th and 11th overall for CU since joining the league in 2011. The Buffs have earned the freshman of the week honor twice and the offensive player of the week award six times.
Colorado, which was receiving votes in last week's AVCA rankings, recorded 106 points to earn the 25th spot in the poll. Minnesota (11-0) is the top ranked team and is followed by Penn State (10-0), Florida (7-0), Stanford (7-2) and Wisconsin (9-0) in the top five.
In total, there are seven Pac-12 Conference teams ranked in the latest poll. Behind Stanford is Washington (10-1) at seventh and right behind the Huskies is Oregon (7-1) at eighth. UCLA (7-2) is just out of the top 10 at 11th and Utah (9-2) is 16th. Southern California (8-3) is the other conference team ranked and is 21st.
CU enters Pac-12 play this week with a pair of top-20 matches. CU will face Utah on Friday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. in Salt Lake City, before returning home to host the reigning NCAA Champion Stanford Cardinal on Sunday, Sept. 24 at 12 p.m.
AVCA Division I Coaches Poll
Week #4, Sept. 18
Rank School (First-Place Votes) Total Points
1 Minnesota (40) 1567
2 Penn State (13) 1535
3 Florida (10) 1489
4 Stanford (1) 1370
5 Wisconsin 1355
6 Texas 1303
7 Washington 1230
8 Oregon 1040
9 BYU 976
10 Kentucky 953
11 UCLA 916
12 Kansas 864
13 Purdue 837
14 Nebraska 818
15 Creighton 799
16 Utah 631
17 San Diego 586
18 Iowa State 477
19 Florida State 412
20 Michigan 388
21 Southern California 230
22 Northern Iowa 212
23 Colorado State 157
24 Wichita State 116
25 Colorado 106
Both Deluzio and Smith played key roles for CU as the Buffs rolled to a 3-0 mark in the final week of non-conference play, which included a 3-2 victory over in-state rival No. 22 Colorado State in Fort Collins, Colo. The Buffs also defeated Xavier (3-1) and Albany (3-0).
DeLuzio averaged 13.67 assists per set, guiding the Buffs to 15.00 kills per set and a .275 team hitting percentage. She recorded a career-high 55 assists in two of the three matches. She handed out 55 assists on Sept. 15 against Xavier and earned a double-double with 15 digs, tying a career-high. In the win over CSU, she also had 55 assists and earned her second double-double of the weekend with 13 digs while directing the Buffs to a weekend best .318 hitting percentage.
Smith played in two of the three matches for the Buffs and averaged a team-best 4.56 kills per set while adding 3.33 digs per set. She started the weekend with 16 kills and 15 digs against Xavier on Sept. 15, for her third double-double of the season. In CU's upset at CSU, which was CU's first win at Moby Arena since 1995, Smith hammered a career-high 25 kills, the third most by a Pac-12 player this season, and hit .310 while adding 15 digs for her fourth double-double this season. She served up a pair of aces and posted one block solo in the win.
These are the first conference player of the week honors for both, and the 10th and 11th overall for CU since joining the league in 2011. The Buffs have earned the freshman of the week honor twice and the offensive player of the week award six times.
Colorado, which was receiving votes in last week's AVCA rankings, recorded 106 points to earn the 25th spot in the poll. Minnesota (11-0) is the top ranked team and is followed by Penn State (10-0), Florida (7-0), Stanford (7-2) and Wisconsin (9-0) in the top five.
In total, there are seven Pac-12 Conference teams ranked in the latest poll. Behind Stanford is Washington (10-1) at seventh and right behind the Huskies is Oregon (7-1) at eighth. UCLA (7-2) is just out of the top 10 at 11th and Utah (9-2) is 16th. Southern California (8-3) is the other conference team ranked and is 21st.
CU enters Pac-12 play this week with a pair of top-20 matches. CU will face Utah on Friday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. in Salt Lake City, before returning home to host the reigning NCAA Champion Stanford Cardinal on Sunday, Sept. 24 at 12 p.m.
AVCA Division I Coaches Poll
Week #4, Sept. 18
Rank School (First-Place Votes) Total Points
1 Minnesota (40) 1567
2 Penn State (13) 1535
3 Florida (10) 1489
4 Stanford (1) 1370
5 Wisconsin 1355
6 Texas 1303
7 Washington 1230
8 Oregon 1040
9 BYU 976
10 Kentucky 953
11 UCLA 916
12 Kansas 864
13 Purdue 837
14 Nebraska 818
15 Creighton 799
16 Utah 631
17 San Diego 586
18 Iowa State 477
19 Florida State 412
20 Michigan 388
21 Southern California 230
22 Northern Iowa 212
23 Colorado State 157
24 Wichita State 116
25 Colorado 106
Players Mentioned
S/L
/ Volleyball
OH
/ VolleyballTuesday, December 02
Saturday, November 29
Wednesday, November 26
Friday, November 21