
Senior Alexa Smith had 15 kills in CU's win over ORU
Photo by: Mark Waldron
Smith Guides No. 15 Buffs To Season Opener Against Oral Roberts
August 24, 2018 | Volleyball
LARAMIE, Wyo. — Senior Alexa Smith recorded 15 kills in the University of Colorado's season opener, helping the No. 15 Buffs get past Oral Roberts 3-1 (25-15, 14-25, 25-19, 25-18) in the first match of the day at the Rumble in the Rockies at the University of Wyoming.
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Junior Justine Spann also had a nice season opener with 11 kills in addition to eight digs and four blocks. At the net, junior Lillie Klemmer made her first career start and posted a career-high seven block assists, in addition to four kills and two service aces. Redshirt freshman Danielle Price also had a nice debut with six kills and four blocks (two solo and two assists), while Lauren Dorrell, who was playing on the right side, posted five block assists and added three kills.
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"We are happy to get our first match under our belt," head coach Jesse Mahoney said. "ORU plays a little different style than we normally see and we could have made some adjustments to it earlier. That being said, I thought our offense in the three sets that we won was run very smoothly by Brynna (DeLuzio) and we saw some nice debuts from four new offensive players in Dani (Price), Lillie (Klemmer), Justine (Spann) and Lauren (Dorrell)."
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WHAT HAPPENED: Colorado got out to a strong start in the match with a solid win in the first set, but suffered a set-back in the second set, falling to the Golden Eagles. The Buffs rallied back to take the final two sets to start the season with a win. CU is now 22-11 in season openers all-time. Â
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SET 1: The Buffs dominated in the first set, winning 25-15. CU went up 7-4 and was able to increase its lead to 14-8 midway through the frame. ORU took the following point, but then the Buffs strung together a 5-0 run to go up by 10. The Golden Eagles took a timeout, but the Buffs responded with a block from Klemmer and Dorrell. The Buffs maintained a strong lead and finished the set 25-15.
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SET 2: ORU flipped the script, defeating CU 25-14. The Golden Eagles took an early 7-4 lead in the frame, although the Buffs got within one point (7-6) just two points later with a kill from Dorrell and a block from Spann. Unfortunately ORU put together a 7-3 run to bring the score to 14-9 before extending it to 18-12, causing CU to use a timeout. ORU scored the following four points to take a 22-12 advantage and finished the game with three of the next five points.
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SET 3: The third set was much more even. It was tied 15-15 when CU scored two straight points to take a lead which the Buffs would never let go. ORU took the next point, but then Spann recorded a kill and teamed up with Klemmer for a block to put CU up 19-16, causing the Golden Eagles to take a timeout. Â ORU took the next point, but again the Buffs answered, this time recording three straight points for a 22-17 advantage. CU went on to take the set 25-19
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SET 4: The fourth game was another close one. It was tied 11-11 when CU strung together three straight points, one kill and two blocks, to take a 14-11 lead. After a quick timeout for ORU, the Golden Eagles tallied a point. The two teams exchanged points until CU was able to record back-to-back points (18-14) for a four point advantage. The Buffs increased their lead to 20-15, forcing ORU to use its final timeout. The break would not slow CU down and the Buffs went on to take the set 25-17.
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TEAM STATISTICS: The Buffs out-hit ORU .183-.132, although ORU had one more kill (44-43) than CU. Â The Buffs posted 12.0 blocks to ORU's 7.0 and served up four aces to ORU's two. The Golden Eagles had the edge in digs, 50-46.
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NOTEABLE: CU is now 4-1 against ORU…Taylor deProsse and Jenna Ewert both saw action in their first matches for the Buffs…Other Buffs seeing their first action include: Anyse Smith and Danielle Price…This is the third time CU has started the season August 24…CU is now 2-1 on matches played on August 24.
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NEXT UP: The Buffs will be back in action at 5 p.m. Friday, against North Florida.
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Junior Justine Spann also had a nice season opener with 11 kills in addition to eight digs and four blocks. At the net, junior Lillie Klemmer made her first career start and posted a career-high seven block assists, in addition to four kills and two service aces. Redshirt freshman Danielle Price also had a nice debut with six kills and four blocks (two solo and two assists), while Lauren Dorrell, who was playing on the right side, posted five block assists and added three kills.
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"We are happy to get our first match under our belt," head coach Jesse Mahoney said. "ORU plays a little different style than we normally see and we could have made some adjustments to it earlier. That being said, I thought our offense in the three sets that we won was run very smoothly by Brynna (DeLuzio) and we saw some nice debuts from four new offensive players in Dani (Price), Lillie (Klemmer), Justine (Spann) and Lauren (Dorrell)."
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WHAT HAPPENED: Colorado got out to a strong start in the match with a solid win in the first set, but suffered a set-back in the second set, falling to the Golden Eagles. The Buffs rallied back to take the final two sets to start the season with a win. CU is now 22-11 in season openers all-time. Â
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SET 1: The Buffs dominated in the first set, winning 25-15. CU went up 7-4 and was able to increase its lead to 14-8 midway through the frame. ORU took the following point, but then the Buffs strung together a 5-0 run to go up by 10. The Golden Eagles took a timeout, but the Buffs responded with a block from Klemmer and Dorrell. The Buffs maintained a strong lead and finished the set 25-15.
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SET 2: ORU flipped the script, defeating CU 25-14. The Golden Eagles took an early 7-4 lead in the frame, although the Buffs got within one point (7-6) just two points later with a kill from Dorrell and a block from Spann. Unfortunately ORU put together a 7-3 run to bring the score to 14-9 before extending it to 18-12, causing CU to use a timeout. ORU scored the following four points to take a 22-12 advantage and finished the game with three of the next five points.
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SET 3: The third set was much more even. It was tied 15-15 when CU scored two straight points to take a lead which the Buffs would never let go. ORU took the next point, but then Spann recorded a kill and teamed up with Klemmer for a block to put CU up 19-16, causing the Golden Eagles to take a timeout. Â ORU took the next point, but again the Buffs answered, this time recording three straight points for a 22-17 advantage. CU went on to take the set 25-19
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SET 4: The fourth game was another close one. It was tied 11-11 when CU strung together three straight points, one kill and two blocks, to take a 14-11 lead. After a quick timeout for ORU, the Golden Eagles tallied a point. The two teams exchanged points until CU was able to record back-to-back points (18-14) for a four point advantage. The Buffs increased their lead to 20-15, forcing ORU to use its final timeout. The break would not slow CU down and the Buffs went on to take the set 25-17.
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TEAM STATISTICS: The Buffs out-hit ORU .183-.132, although ORU had one more kill (44-43) than CU. Â The Buffs posted 12.0 blocks to ORU's 7.0 and served up four aces to ORU's two. The Golden Eagles had the edge in digs, 50-46.
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NOTEABLE: CU is now 4-1 against ORU…Taylor deProsse and Jenna Ewert both saw action in their first matches for the Buffs…Other Buffs seeing their first action include: Anyse Smith and Danielle Price…This is the third time CU has started the season August 24…CU is now 2-1 on matches played on August 24.
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NEXT UP: The Buffs will be back in action at 5 p.m. Friday, against North Florida.
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Team Stats
ORU
COLO
Kills
44
43
Errors
28
21
Attempts
121
120
Hitting %
.132
.183
Points
53.0
59.0
Assists
40
39
Aces
2
4
Blocks
7.0
12.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Players Mentioned
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