Colorado Sweeps Sun Devils

BOULDER – The University of Colorado women's volleyball team swept Arizona State, 3-0, Friday evening in Boulder for the last evening match in the CU Events Center this season, led by senior Alexa Smith's 16-kill performance.

The Buffaloes made quick work of ASU (25-21, 25-19, 25-22) to improve to 15-11 overall with a 7-8 record in conference play. With the loss the Sun Devils fall below .500 at 13-14 with a 4-11 record in the Pac-12.

"We did a lot of things really well," said Coach Jesse Mahoney. "We passed extremely well for most of the match. I thought we served extremely well for most of the match. We got into some places where we gave up some free points on hitting errors, but we put the clamp down on that. We were able to limit those errors and force Arizona State to score their own points. Once we did that, we created some separation. It is always good to get a win. It is always better to get a sweep."

Slow starts in sets by CU kept ASU in the match, but a slow start couldn't contain Smith who finished with more than five kills per set and a .353 hitting percentage. Smith caught fire in the final set, finishing with seven errorless kills and a .538 hitting percentage to send Arizona State home. This is the third time in four matches Smith has hit greater than .350.

"I got off to a little bit of a rough start and got some errors early on," said Smith. "After that, I was in my own head. I continued to get better and [setter] Jenna (Ewert) made it really easy for me."

Pac-12 Freshman of the Week Jenna Ewert continued to improve as she leads the team solo without fellow setter Brynna DeLuzio. Ewert dished out 33 assists (11 per set) and was a dig away from a double-double with nine. She also was a part of three blocks. Ewert has averaged about 11 assists per set in the past three matches.

"It has been really hard, especially starting with Cal and Stanford," said Ewert about setting solo. "That was a challenge and a really steep learning curve for me. The team is being really supportive. Blocking with Naghede (Abu) has been a priority of mine and not getting tooled left and right. Today, that was a challenge for me because their outside hitter loved hitting line. I am leaning on my teammates and they are leaning right back. They are making it easy."

Defensively, Colorado had 10 total blocks as a team, all coming from block assists. Anyse Smith, who was second on the team with 11 kills, led the team in block assists with seven. Danielle Price joined in with five blocks, while Naghede Abu added in four. Rachel Whipple cleaned up the backrow as the only player in the match with double-digit digs at 10.

The middle play was a huge area of exploitation for Colorado, as Abu and Price combined for eight kills without an error. The duo had 16 total attacks, tallying a .500 hitting percentage for CU from the position.

The match was only as close as the Buffs ever let it. CU committed seven attack errors in the first five points of sets one and two. In total Colorado had 17 attack errors, just two of which were from being blocked. The rough beginnings were apparent with hitting percentages of .053 and .067 in the first 10 points of the first two sets, but CU improved drastically to close out each set with a hitting percentage above .220.

"(We) pointed that out over, and over, and over in the beginning of each set and found some focus after that," said Mahoney when asked on addressing attack errors early in sets. "They had two blocks and we had 17 attack errors. That means we hit the ball out 15 times. Those are free points. A lot of those were good swings, but a lot of those weren't. Just finding that line between how aggressive we can be and how safe we need to be. I think we did that in the second half of all of the sets."

After a late 11-5 run to take the second set, the Buffs came together to take control in the third set. Colorado never trailed in sets one or three, but more importantly did not commit an attack error until leading 11-8 in the final set. CU went on to hit .371 in the set with only three errors.

"We have been getting a lot better," said Alexa Smith on the team's performance. "That is what you want to see this time of year. We are excited for Sunday and are excited for the opportunity in front of us."

With the sweep under their belt the Buffs turn to No.20-ranked Arizona Sunday at noon for senior day. Colorado fell to the Wildcats by way of a sweep last month in Tucson after hitting just .153 and giving away eight points by service errors. Since then CU is 4-2 and has only been held to less than .190 hitting once.

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Team Stats

Alexa Smith

Anyse Smith

Justine Spann

Danielle Price

Players Mentioned

Naghede Abu

Brynna DeLuzio

Jenna Ewert

Danielle Price

Alexa Smith

Anyse Smith

Rachel Whipple

Players Mentioned

Naghede Abu

Brynna DeLuzio

Jenna Ewert

Danielle Price

Alexa Smith

Anyse Smith

Rachel Whipple