Colorado University Athletics
Wednesday, November 21
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Photo by: Gary Breedlove
Colorado Concludes Regular Season with Long Road Trip
November 20, 2018 | Volleyball
BOULDER – The University of Colorado women's volleyball team has a quick turnaround after returning to the state Sunday evening, as the team heads back out on the road for matchups with UCLA on Wednesday at 2 p.m. MT, and a regular season finale at Utah at noon.
Colorado swept last weekend and pulled even in conference play with a 17-12 overall record and 9-9 record in the Pac-12. The Bruins are 13-12 with an 8-10 record in conference play, while the Utes are 16-13 with the same record in conference play as UCLA.
This weekend will be a huge one, as both UCLA and Utah are higher in the RPI rankings than CU. With the sweep the Buffs improved to 46 on the ranking list but are now the 28-ranked team if the current automatic qualifying teams are taken out of the equation. All three schools are looking to receive at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament, with UCLA at 35 in RPI rankings and Utah at 40.
Alexa Smith continues to lead the charge for CU, racking up her 400th kill of the season last Friday at Oregon. She is hitting .224 in conference play. She is joined by Justine Spann with her 300th kill coming at Oregon, Anyse Smith who has more than 250 and Naghede Abu with nearly 200.
Colorado will rely strongly on their blocking game. After posting a season-best 23.5 blocks at Oregon State, the team has sky-rocketed to the 16-ranked team in total blocks in the nation. The Buffs are also 27th in blocks per set, while Naghede Abu is 22nd in the nation in blocks per set and 19th in hitting percentage.
SCOUTING THE BRUINS: UCLA has one of the strangest seasons as of late. The team has been ranked all season long, finally dropping out of the polls this week. In conference they have key wins at Utah, a sweep of Arizona, and a win at Washington. Ever since the win at Washington though the Bruins are 2-7 in conference play with wins against Oregon State in five and at Arizona State in four. UCLA is coming off of a loss by way of sweep to Arizona.
UCLA is led by Mac May, who has 349 kills this season with a .210 hitting percentage. She also leads the team with 33 aces, while libero Zana Muno has 466 digs with more than five per set. The defense is the strongest part of the team with the 16th best dig per set record in the nation and the best in the conference.
SCOUTING THE UTES: Ever since the five-set matchup in Boulder to kick off the season, Colorado and Utah has had the same record overall and in conference play until last weekend. The Utes have two strong wins against Washington, a win against Oregon, and a win against Arizona. They also have two losses to Cal.
Utah is the best team in the conference in total assists with nearly 1,500. They are led by the southpaw outside hitter Dani Drews who leads the conference in total points with more than 500. They also have the best server in the conference in Bailey Choy and her 39 aces.
Naghede Abu
Senior Naghede Abu has been on pace to become the career record holder in blocks, barely. For the entire conference season she has needed to hit about 5.5 blocks per match to tie the record. After Sunday's 17 block school record performance at Oregon State, Abu is just a single block from tying Meghan Barkman's school record 565 career blocks. Now what was uncertain is a question of when. Abu has only a single match in her career without a block, last season against Nebraska in the Sweet 16.
Abu is also currently the school record holder in career hitting percentage. The senior has been floating around third all season long, but with a .389 season hitting percentage she has moved her career total to .331, two-thousandths of a percentage above Hall of Fame setter Kelly Campbell.
Pac-12 Players of the Week
For the fourth time in school history, Colorado has two of the three possible player of the week honors by the Pac-12. Abu was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week, her third time receiving it, while Jenna Ewert was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, her second time earning the honor.
Triple-Double or More
Sunday saw setter Ewert match the match-high in school history for blocks by a setter with 10. It was just the second assists-blocks double-double in school history. She was just a pair of digs from the first-ever assists, digs, blocks triple-double. Makes the thought of a quadruple-double more of a reality, a feat so rare that only two have been done since 2010.
Colorado swept last weekend and pulled even in conference play with a 17-12 overall record and 9-9 record in the Pac-12. The Bruins are 13-12 with an 8-10 record in conference play, while the Utes are 16-13 with the same record in conference play as UCLA.
This weekend will be a huge one, as both UCLA and Utah are higher in the RPI rankings than CU. With the sweep the Buffs improved to 46 on the ranking list but are now the 28-ranked team if the current automatic qualifying teams are taken out of the equation. All three schools are looking to receive at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament, with UCLA at 35 in RPI rankings and Utah at 40.
Alexa Smith continues to lead the charge for CU, racking up her 400th kill of the season last Friday at Oregon. She is hitting .224 in conference play. She is joined by Justine Spann with her 300th kill coming at Oregon, Anyse Smith who has more than 250 and Naghede Abu with nearly 200.
Colorado will rely strongly on their blocking game. After posting a season-best 23.5 blocks at Oregon State, the team has sky-rocketed to the 16-ranked team in total blocks in the nation. The Buffs are also 27th in blocks per set, while Naghede Abu is 22nd in the nation in blocks per set and 19th in hitting percentage.
SCOUTING THE BRUINS: UCLA has one of the strangest seasons as of late. The team has been ranked all season long, finally dropping out of the polls this week. In conference they have key wins at Utah, a sweep of Arizona, and a win at Washington. Ever since the win at Washington though the Bruins are 2-7 in conference play with wins against Oregon State in five and at Arizona State in four. UCLA is coming off of a loss by way of sweep to Arizona.
UCLA is led by Mac May, who has 349 kills this season with a .210 hitting percentage. She also leads the team with 33 aces, while libero Zana Muno has 466 digs with more than five per set. The defense is the strongest part of the team with the 16th best dig per set record in the nation and the best in the conference.
SCOUTING THE UTES: Ever since the five-set matchup in Boulder to kick off the season, Colorado and Utah has had the same record overall and in conference play until last weekend. The Utes have two strong wins against Washington, a win against Oregon, and a win against Arizona. They also have two losses to Cal.
Utah is the best team in the conference in total assists with nearly 1,500. They are led by the southpaw outside hitter Dani Drews who leads the conference in total points with more than 500. They also have the best server in the conference in Bailey Choy and her 39 aces.
Naghede Abu
Senior Naghede Abu has been on pace to become the career record holder in blocks, barely. For the entire conference season she has needed to hit about 5.5 blocks per match to tie the record. After Sunday's 17 block school record performance at Oregon State, Abu is just a single block from tying Meghan Barkman's school record 565 career blocks. Now what was uncertain is a question of when. Abu has only a single match in her career without a block, last season against Nebraska in the Sweet 16.
Abu is also currently the school record holder in career hitting percentage. The senior has been floating around third all season long, but with a .389 season hitting percentage she has moved her career total to .331, two-thousandths of a percentage above Hall of Fame setter Kelly Campbell.
Pac-12 Players of the Week
For the fourth time in school history, Colorado has two of the three possible player of the week honors by the Pac-12. Abu was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week, her third time receiving it, while Jenna Ewert was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, her second time earning the honor.
Triple-Double or More
Sunday saw setter Ewert match the match-high in school history for blocks by a setter with 10. It was just the second assists-blocks double-double in school history. She was just a pair of digs from the first-ever assists, digs, blocks triple-double. Makes the thought of a quadruple-double more of a reality, a feat so rare that only two have been done since 2010.
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