A Look Back at 1,000 Colorado Volleyball Matches

BOULDER – In its history, Colorado volleyball has seen five coaches, crowds of more than 10,000 fans and played in more than 30 matches in 19 NCAA tournament appearances. Friday, Nov. 2, the Buffs will play their 1,000^th match as a member of the NCAA when they play at No.2 Stanford.

THE START:
On April 26,1986, the University of Colorado hired Brad Saindon as the first head coach of the women's volleyball team. The team participated in the first-ever match Sept. 4 against Iowa State in then-Coors Events Center. The Buffs would win the first-ever match in school history in match #8 against the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, and showed fans what a CU victory at home looks like in match #12 against Colorado School of Mines.

Since the inaugural season in 1986, Colorado volleyball has played a key part in the lives of 165 women who all put in countless hours of work on the court and in the classroom as Buffaloes. Those women's achievements have correlated into 13 All-American honors, more than 30 appearances in the NCAA record book and a pair of Academic All-Americans.

MILESTONES:
Over the years the teams have hit numerous large milestones. CU played in match #100 in a home victory against Pepperdine on September 16, 1989. The century mark for wins would come two years later in match #170 in Laramie, Wyoming, in 1991.

The 100^th win in the CU Events Center came in 1996 against Baylor in match #337. More than 200 wins have come in the CU Events Center, with match #883 in August of 2015 against Oklahoma serving as the 250^th win. One of the largest milestones in program history came at home less than a month later in match #892 when CU defeated Air Force for its 500^th win in school history.

THE BEST:

The setter in the Buffs' 100^th win in 1996 was just a freshman, but Kelly Campbell would go on to lead one of the greatest Buffs teams in school history. Campbell was named a Volleyball Magazine Freshman All-American following the 1996 season and would earn two more All-American honors in 1998 (Volleyball Magazine Third Team All-American) and 1999 (Volleyball Magazine Second-Team All-American), making her the most-honored CU volleyball player. The achievements of Campbell's teams litter the NCAA record books, as the 1998 Buffs have the second-best kills per set average in NCAA history at 19.01 along with the second-best assists per set average at 17.45. Campbell will forever hold the NCAA career record for assists per set average in the non-rally scoring era at 14.45. Her mark has only been surpassed once since rally scoring came to be in 2001, when Washington's Courtney Thompson concluded her career in 2006 with an average of 14.56. Campbell concluded her career in match #433 as the CU record holder in all setting categories.

In the 33 years of CU volleyball the team has defeated the No.1-ranked team in the nation twice. The first such occasion came in match #635 on November 11, 2006 when Nebraska came to town as the top-dog. Amber Sutherland led the Buffs in a five-set (19-30, 30-28, 15-30, 30-27, 15-12) grudge match with 18 kills, while teammate Ashley Nu'u dished out 62 assists to start a streak of four-straight matches with 60 assists. This match still holds the CU Events Center attendance record at 4,111. Eight of the top-nine home attendance records are when the Buffs play Nebraska, with the two largest road attendance records coming when CU traveled to Lincoln. Current Associate Head Coach Lee Maes was the assistant coach for Nebraska during this match, which was the Huskers only loss on the way to the national championship title.

The last time Colorado toppled the top team came in 2013 when Washington came to town in match #827. The Buffs were in better control of this match, taking it in a four-set victory (25-17, 26-24, 15-25, 25-19). Taylor Simpson led the team in both kills and digs with 18 and 20, respectfully. Simpson led the Buffs back to the NCAA tournament after a seven-year hiatus and went on to be named the only AVCA First Team All-American in CU history.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY:
CU first found itself in the NCAA Tournament in 1989, losing match #121 against No. 18 Minnesota in a four-set match on Dec. 2, the first time the Buffs played in the month of December. The first tournament win came four years later in 1993 in match #253 against Illinois. The match before that, match #252, saw CU defeating Nebraska for the team's second-straight Big-Eight Tournament Championships. CU capped off the 1993 season with a school-record 26 wins and first-ever regular-season conference championship by dethroning the Huskers streak of 16-straight titles. The Buffs also won all of their home matches, a feat not yet repeated in school history.

In four occasions Colorado has made it to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, with match #975 serving as the most recent last December against Nebraska. This was the first appearance in the round of 16 in 20 years. The Huskers also faced the Buffs in the Sweet Sixteen on match #285 in 1994. The first appearance was in match #254 against Penn State in 1993, while the third was against Stanford in match #373 in 1997.

QUEENS OF KILLS:

In 33 seasons the Buffs have had numerous talented women shine on the court. Karrie Downey is the school-record holder in kills with 1,790. She played her last match in 1994 in match #285 in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. Tina Murray was the first queen of the court for the Buffs, hitting her 1,000^th career kill in match #123 in the CU Events Center against Idaho State on Sept. 3, 1990. Senior Alexa Smith became the 16^th player in school history to eclipse the 1,000 mark, becoming just the second Colorado-native to do so in match #986 against Colorado State.

The sport of volleyball has had many turns in the 1,000 matches CU has seen. There have been numerous rule changes, including the end of volley scoring in 2001, which turned to a 30-point rally scoring system and later was adjusted to the 25-point margin it is today in 2008. The position of libero was added to NCAA volleyball in 2002, though the position wasn't allowed to serve in the match until 2004. The sport may see more changes, but Colorado volleyball will have the same focus next Friday against No. 2 Stanford: Be the best and leave everything on the court.

IMPORTANT MATCHES AND MILESTONES:

Match #	Date	Opponent	Results	Place
Match #1	9/4/86	Iowa State	Loss	Home
Match #50	11/13/87	Long Beach State	Loss	Away
Match #100	9/16/89	Pepperdine	Win	Home
Match #250	11/20/93	Missouri	Win	Away
Match #500	9/7/02	Loyola Marymount	Loss	Away
Match #750	11/16/10	Iowa State	Loss	Home
Match #1000	11/2/18	Stanford		Away

WIN NUMBERS:

Win #	Match #	Date	Opponent	Place
1	Match #8	10/1/86	UCCS	Away
50	Match #107	10/7/89	Kansas	Home
100	Match #170	9/21/91	Wyoming	Away
250	Match #380	9/19/98	Maryland	Home
500	Match #892	9/20/15	Air Force	Home

CU Events Center Wins
100	Match #337	11/22/96	Baylor	Home
200	Match #634	11/8/06	Kansas	Home
250	Match #883	8/29/15	Oklahoma	Home

Players Mentioned

Alexa Smith

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