No. 25 Buffs Test No. 4 Cardinal, Fall In Five

BOULDER — The No. 25 Colorado Buffaloes (10-3, 0-2 Pac-12) had the reigning NCAA Champion and fourth ranked Stanford Cardinal (9-2, 2-0 Pac-12) on the ropes on Sunday afternoon, but was unable to complete the upset, falling 3-2 at Coors Events Center.

The Buffs took the first set 25-20 before the Cardinal rallied back with a second set victory of 25-13, tying the match up 1-1 heading into intermission. CU came back to record a third set win (29-27), but SU responded by taking the fourth set with the same score. Despite a valiant effort by the Buffs, the Cardinal took the fifth and deciding set, 15-12.

WHAT HAPPENED: Junior Alexa Smith led the match with 25 kills and added 12 digs. Senior Joslyn Hayes also performed well for the Buffs, tying a career-high 16 kills, while junior Frankie Shebby also recorded double-digit kills with 12.

Defensively junior Naghede Abu posted six blocks while adding seven kills. Three Buffs tallied 11 digs a piece; they were Shebby, freshman Brynna DeLuzio and junior Gabby Carta-Samuels.

On the opposing end, Stanford sophomore Jenna Plummer recorded 18 kills along with 19 digs. Freshman Meghan McClure tallied 10 kills and 14 digs. Junior Tami Alade and Senior Merete Lutz also assisted in the Stanford victory with 17 kills each, while Alade added nine blocks.

SET 1: Colorado got out to a great start, taking an 8-3 lead before the Cardinal took its first timeout. The Buffs continued to dominate, going up by 10 points (15-5) to force SU to take its final break of the set. The Cardinal rallied with a 5-0 run following the timeout before CU was able to side-out. The Buffs were able to go back up by nine points again at 23-14 and looked to close the set before Stanford recorded a 6-1 run to bring the score to 24-20. After a CU timeout, Smith came up with a huge kill to give the Buffs the 25-20 victory.

SET 2: The Cardinal got out to a 10-4 lead, causing the Buffs to take a timeout. A service error by SU gave possession back to the Buffs, but it did not slow down SU as it increased the lead to 18-8 and went on to take the set 25-13.

SET 3: The third set was a lot closer than the previous two, as neither team had a lead larger than two-points through the first half. Stanford had the slight 15-13 edge at the media timeout. Smith hammered two straight kills out of the break to even the set and a block by DeLuzio and Abu put the Buffs up 16-15. The two teams continued to battle, but after the Cardinal went back up by two (21-19), CU needed to take a timeout. The Buffs took the next two points off a kill from Smith and an SU attack error to tie the frame again.

Stanford took the following two points (23-21), but again the Buffs answered with another pair of points. Stanford took the following point with a block, but CU responded with a kill from Shebby and an ace by Pfefferle to give CU set point (25-24). After a SU timeout, the Cardinal took two straight points to get to set point, but the Buffs did not let up and Hayes recorded a kill to tie it back up (26-26). SU had set point again after a kill, but the Buffs answered with three straight points on kills from Hayes and a pair from Smith to earn the hard-fought 29-27 set.

SET 4: The fourth set was another tough battle with 19 total ties. Stanford had a 19-17 lead late in the frame, causing CU to use a timeout. SU took the next two points for its largest lead of the set but the Buffs responded with a 5-0 run, which included three straight kills from Smith, to go up 22-21. The Cardinal needed to take a timeout and was able to even it up at 23-23. The set would be tied four more times before the Cardinal were able to win the set 29-27.

SET 5: Stanford took a 7-4 lead in the race to 15, causing the Buffs to take a break. CU would take its second timeout a short time later after SU increased its lead to 11-6. Shebby recorded a quick kill for the Buffs as they used a 3-1 run to bring the score within three points (12-9). After a Cardinal timeout, Anna Pfefferle posted a block solo, but SU responded with two straight points to get to set point (14-10). The Buffs fought off two match points with a kill from Hayes and a SU attack error, but Stanford finished it off with a kill, taking the set 15-12.

NOTES: This was the first home court loss for the Buffs as they are now 4-1 at Coors…The Buffs are 2-1 in five-set matches this season…Stanford has only lost to Penn State this year (twice)…Penn State is the only team that has taken a set off Stanford as the Cardinal have only lost three sets prior to the meeting against CU…Alexa Smith hammered 12 kills alone in the third set…This was the fourth time this season DeLuzio has recorded 50 or more assists in a match.

TEAM STATISTICS: Stanford out-hit the Buffs .282-.181. The Cardinal had 73 kills and 25 errors on 170 attacks, while CU recorded 65 kills and 31 errors on 188 swings. Both teams served up three aces. Stanford also held the advantage defensively with 15.0 blocks to CU's 9.0. The Cardinal also had 74 digs to CU's 62.

NEXT UP: The Buffs stay at home next weekend and will host Oregon State on Sept. 29 and No. 8 Oregon on Sept. 30.

QUOTES:
Head coach Jesse Mahoney
On the overall assessment of the match
"Moral victories don't go on the chalkboard. I thought we played extremely well in four of those five sets. I thought that we executed the game plan really well and our seven made really nice choices. We played at a really high level consistently for a long period of time. We probably should have closed it out in set four if I hadn't used all my challenges on the 23-21 point. It could have been 24-21 and I think we would have closed it out. I'm happy with the effort we had. If we play like that, we'll be in a good place this season."

On the upcoming road games against the Oregon schools and what can be taken from this match
"The message is always the same. The stuff that's not going well, we try to diagnose and fix it. There are reasons why we lose points and we know what they are. We'll go back into practice and work on those things. But, there are a lot of things that we're doing well now that we'll continue to improve upon. The Oregon schools are both flying high this season, so we're going to have great matchups. We'll put a game plan together and try to execute it. I think we'll be better next week. Honestly, we've become better each weekend; we had a down night in Utah. But, if we play like this, we're in a great place. We have to hold on to the things we're doing well and keep working on the things we're struggling with."

On the challenge used in set three
"Alexa (Smith) never misses that shot so I knew it was in. I was going to challenge that no matter what because it was a pivotal point. In high level matches, every point is pivotal. So if we feel that the referees missed something and we can get that point, we're going to challenge it. I used my third challenge early in set four. If I could have it back I would take it. All the other challenges I was positive about."

On if in the second year Coach Mahoney has learned when to use his challenges
"I know what cameras see in this building a little bit better so that's helpful. But like I said, if I think that we can get a point back no matter where we are in the match, we're going to try to get it. Every point is pivotal as we saw in the end of set three and the end of set four. My players do a really nice job of giving information about what they see and hear. That's really important because if they say, 'that was definitely this' or 'that was definitely that' we can make a decision. And frankly the crowd does a really good job too."

Junior Alexa Smith
On being able to say that they pushed the defending National Champions to 5 sets:
"I think that it shows how we can play. We need to live up to that level."

On what sparked her high level of play during the third set:
"I owed it to my teammates, especially Brynna (DeLuzio) because she sets up the offense. I also owed it to the rest of the hitters up there with me. They were able to pull the blocks away from me. I was able to do it because of them."

On how she put up the numbers she did against Stanford's big blockers:
"Stanford has some big girls that can block. My teammates told me that they would cover me and to keep swinging. Eventually, after that second set, I was able to find the floor a little more."

Senior Joslyn Hayes
On being able to say that they pushed the defending National Champions to 5 sets:
"Those types of moral victories don't mean much to us. We had that set and we let it go. We have to be sharper. It's pretty frustrating."

On the difficulty of hitting around Stanford's #17, Merete Lutz:
"She is a phenomenal player. She has height and athleticism. It was difficult but not impossible. It was exciting paying against her because we knew we could keep up with a player of that caliber, but we weren't sharp in all of our plays against her."

On if the expectations of the team changed, once reaching the Top 25:
"The expectations are the same. They are always very high. No matter if we are in the Top-25 or not, we have high expectations and expect to play at a high level."

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Team Stats

Alexa Smith

Joslyn Hayes

Frankie Shebby

Naghede Abu

Players Mentioned

Naghede Abu

Gabby Carta-Samuels

Brynna DeLuzio

Joslyn Hayes

Anna Pfefferle

Frankie Shebby

Alexa Smith

Players Mentioned

Naghede Abu

Gabby Carta-Samuels

Brynna DeLuzio

Joslyn Hayes

Anna Pfefferle

Frankie Shebby

Alexa Smith