Buffs to Host Cal and No.2 Stanford

BOULDER — The University of Colorado women's volleyball team returns home to face off with Cal Friday night at 8 p.m. and No.2-ranked Stanford Sunday at noon.

Colorado returns to Boulder after a tough weekend in Washington. The Buffs were able to take both the 13^th and 22^nd-ranked teams in the nation to four sets, but ultimately fell in both matches.

Despite the losses, the Buffs have hope after having a dominant match on the offensive end against Washington State. The team took the conference's best defensive team in terms of opponent offensive hitting percentage and were able to post a .308 team hitting percentage. Four CU women were able to hit in double-digit kills as the Buffs bettered their season total in kills this season in just four sets. The team also bettered their assist total in a match this season with both Jenna Ewert and Brynna DeLuzio tallying 29 assists.

Senior captain Alexa Smith continues to lead the Buffs, now on both ends of the court with a team-high 202 kills and 150 digs. The last Buff to finish a season leading the team in kills per set and digs per set was Becah Fogle in 2009. The senior is getting help, as Anyse Smith has picked up her kills pace during conference play to nearly 2.7 kills per set.

Up front, redshirt freshman Danielle Price is coming off a career-high in blocks with 10 against Washington. She is joined by a strong Buffs team that has a trio of players blocking well in conference. Price leads with 24 total blocks, while Lauren Dorrell has 20 and Naghede Abu has 19.

Friday night's match is deemed Friday Night Out, where fans can pair up to get two tickets, two drinks and two hotdogs for $24, with additional ticket add-ons available for $12 after. Sunday's match is staff appreciation, allowing all CU staff to join for $12 and get a ticket, drink and hot dog.

SCOUTING CAL: The Golden Bears are a match above .500 this season with an 8-7 record. The team has lost five straight matches. Cal has a familiar non-conference opponent as the Buff is Portland State, a match that was won in five sets by the Bears. Cal is coming off of a home stretch that involved sweeps to Stanford and USC, but also included five-set losses to Arizona State and UCLA. Like the Buffs, Cal spreads the ball out with four players with more than 100 kills. Mima Mirkovic leads the team with 182 kills, as well as in serving with 18 aces. Also like CU, the Golden Bears have two setters with more than 300 assists in Jade Blevins and Isabel Potter. Defensively, Mirkovic leads the team with 199 digs, while Kat Knop has 144. Preslie Anderson has a team-high 53 blocks, with Lauren Forte and Bailee Huizenga with more than 40 blocks.

SCOUTING STANFORD: The second ranked team in the nation is a strong one to say the least. The team has only lost six sets this season and one match, with the match coming in a five-set match against then-ranked No.9 BYU in Provo, a team that has taken over the top ranking since. The Cardinals have swept No.5 Penn State, No.3 Texas, No.18 UCLA and No.13 USC at home, as well as a four-set win against No.3 Texas in Texas. Stanford has not lost to an unranked opponent since September of 2016. Stanford is tied with Penn State for the national lead in blocks per set with 3.18, is second in hitting percentage behind BYU and third in kills per set. The Cardinals also boast the top setter in the nation in Jenna Gray with 12.66 assists per set and the conference-leader in blocks in Tami Alade with 1.59 per set. They also have the top libero in the conference in Morgan Hentz who averages 4.95 digs per set. Kathrn Plummer is second in the conference with 4.67 kills per set while Holly Campbell is second in the conference in blocks per set with 1.35.

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Players Mentioned

Naghede Abu

Brynna DeLuzio

Lauren Dorrell

Jenna Ewert

Danielle Price

Alexa Smith

Anyse Smith