No. 15 Buffs Start 2018 With Trip To Wyoming To Face Oral Roberts, North Florida & Wyoming

BOULDER—Colorado will kick off the 2018 season at the Rumble in the Rockies in Laramie, Wyo., facing Oral Roberts, North Florida and host Wyoming, August 24-25, at UniWyo Sports Complex.

The tournament will start for the Buffs on Friday, August 24 at 10 a.m. against Oral Roberts. CU will be back on the court at 5 p.m. to face North Florida. CU's third and final contest of the weekend will be on Saturday, August 25, at 7 p.m. against the host, Wyoming. Live stats will be provided at GoWyo.com and when available, a live stream will be at the same link.

No. 15 Colorado returns 11 letterwinners, including four starters, from a team that earned a 24-10 record and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16. Alexa Smith led CU with 3.97 kills per set, while Naghede Abu posted 1.20 blocks per set and hit a team-high .344. Brynna DeLuzio handed out 11.02 assists per set and Gabby Carta-Samuels recorded 3.17 digs per set.

THE TOURNAMENT FIELD
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES: Oral Roberts was 15-14 last season and earned a second place finish in The Summit League with an 11-3 record. The Golden Eagles return three starters plus their libero. CeCe Madison was second on the team in 2017 with 3.18 kills per set and hit .224. Morgan Blomquist led ORU with 0.71 blocks per set and Bri Greenlee recorded 1.08 kills and 0.46 blocks per set. The libero, Tori Roe, led the team with 3.42 digs per set. As a team, the Golden Eagles averaged 13.5 kills and hit .233 in 2017.

SCOUTING THE OSPREYS: North Florida was 13-19 last season, which included a 5-9 mark in conference play. The Ospreys return their leading attacker, Devyn Wheeler, who averaged 2.65 kills per set and added 1.49 digs and 0.33 blocks per set. Their second leading attacker, Taryn Griffey, recorded 2.46 kills per set and hit .307. Alana Shoff, who averaged 1.11 blocks per set, is also back in the line-up. Last year's UNF team averaged 12.33 kills per set while hitting .186 and posted 2.23 blocks per set.

SCOUTING THE COWGIRLS: Wyoming finished the 2017 season with a 17-14 record and was second in the Mountain West Conference with a 12-6 mark. The Cowgirls return all six starters and their libero. Last season, Tara Traphagan recorded 2.71 kills per set and hit .241, while Emily Lewis averaged 2.86 kills per set. At the net, Reed Copeland posted 1.20 blocks per set and added 1.94 kills per set with a .312 hitting percentage. Marissa Harmon directed the offense to a .230 hitting percentage with 9.57 assists per set and UW's libero, Lily Austin, recorded 3.71 digs per set.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Buffs stay on the road and will head to Seattle for the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge. CU will take on Illinois on August 31 and Iowa on Sept. 1. Both matches will start at 6 p.m. MT and will be televised on Pac-12 Network.

HOME OPENER: Colorado will play its first home contest of the season on Sept. 7 against Georgia at 6 p.m. as it hosts the Buffs Invitational at the CU Events Center.

TICKET INFORMATION
Single match tickets start at just $8 for general admission and $10 for reserved seating. Season tickets start at $40 for general admission and are $55 for reserved seating, Kids 12 and under are free again this season. Fans can purchase tickets online at CUBuffs.com or by calling 303-49-BUFFS.

And don't forget about the Women's Sports Pass. For just $125, the Women's sports pass gives you general admission seating for all volleyball, soccer and women's basketball home games.

No. 15 Buffs Start 2018 With Trip To Wyoming To Face Oral Roberts, North Florida & Wyoming

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Players Mentioned

Naghede Abu

Gabby Carta-Samuels

Brynna DeLuzio

Alexa Smith