Buffs Finish Off Sooners in Three

BOULDER, Colo. — The University of Colorado women's volleyball team put down its second opponent of the day in the 2018 Buffs Invitational Saturday evening when the team swept (25-12, 26-24, 25-15) the University of Oklahoma. The team finishes the tournament with a 2-1 record and closing out the day with a pair of sweeps.

Redshirt freshman Anyse Smith continued her dominating ways in the victory, leading the match with 14 kills while swinging a career-high .619. The last time a player hit 14 or more kills and .619 was Naghede Abu during the same weekend last season. Smith had just five attack errors in the three matches this tournament, hitting an outstanding .523 with 39 kills.

Smith was not alone, as Alexa Smith put up a dozen kills with a .323 hitting percentage and just a pair of errors. Justine Spann added eight kills, while Jenna Ewert led the team with 20 assists. Brynna DeLuzio also had 14 assists and a pair of aces.

Also for the Buffs, Lauren Dorrell added seven kills with a .429 hitting percentage and just a single attack error.

The offense was rolling today, finishing the match with a season-best .351 hitting percentage. The team also had a season-low 10 errors. The first set was one that will be remembered, as the team hit .542 and had a sideout percentage of 92, both season-bests. In 13 tries, the women succeeded to sideout on all but one occasion.

The defense also found its stride, putting up a dozen blocks. The only better performance was against Wyoming with 13, a match that went five sets. Lillie Klemmer and Alexa Smith anchored the front row with seven total blocks each. Smith had three solo blocks and four assists, while Klemmer had seven assists. Anyse Smith also added three block assists.

In the back row, libero Rachel Whipple averaged more than five digs per set for the first time this season with 16 digs. She tallied 31 total digs in just six sets today. Spann also added 10 digs.

QUOTABLES:
Head Coach Jesse Mahoney

On dominating the first set
Well we passed really well that first set. Exceptionally well. I think Oklahoma is a very good team and it just took them awhile to catch up to the speed of what we were doing offensively. I think we only had one hitting error in that first set maybe two, but we are going to win a lot of games with that low error. Pretty impressive. Unfortunately, we kind of let that slip in the beginning of set two and let Oklahoma have a little glimpse of hope, but it felt like by set three we were firing again.

On winning two games today in three sets
We needed it. I think last night was a pretty grueling match and sometimes it tough when you come out on the wrong side of it. It's sometimes hard to rebound and I thought we did a really nice job with putting that behind us, making some adjustments and getting better in this morning's match and then being on top of it in tonight's match. Both of those teams we played today were really good teams and to get sweeps its impressive and I'm happy with how we played. We talk about getting better every day and it felt like we got better every match this weekend and it's good to continue to improve because next week's going to be tough and then Pac-12 shows up on our doorstep.

Anyse Smith

On what was said by Coach to the women during the time out that sparked a comeback to win the set
He told us to settle down and play our own game and worry about what we were doing, and our technique will get us there.

On what sparked hitting .523 with 39 kills
I just love the game, and I feel like if you love something you should give it your all, all the time. We work hard in practice and I just want to make the people who believe in me proud, so I just go out and play.

Rachel Whipple

On performing well at home with 41 digs for the tournament
It feels amazing. Two years ago, coming into this program starting libero was only a dream and it's something I've worked hard every day at. Even playing at home in front of our fans and my family it's just an awesome feeling to perform well

HOW IT HAPPENED:

SET 1: The Buffs jumped out to a quick 3-1 lead in front of the home crowd. The lead continued to grow as the Sooners looked a little dazed at the quick 5-1 lead. Colorado continued to roll, hitting at early .571 in an 8-3 opening set. While the Buffs continued to hit well at .500, the Sooners couldn't find a groove with a .067 hitting percentage at 11-5. A second CU block at 13-6 turned into an Oklahoma timeout. Colorado continued to pound to a 17-7 lead, hitting .600 with five Buffs with kills, led by Anyse Smith with four kills on four swings. The domination of the opening set led to a 21-9 lead. Colorado hit set-point at 24-11, finally sealing the set victory on an Alexa Smith kill and a 25-12 win. The team's .542 hitting percentage in the set was the best this season, hitting 15 kills with just a pair of errors. Colorado had an outstanding sideout percentage of 92, failing to side out only once in 13 tries. That was a season-best sideout percentage as well.

SET 2: It was CU's turn to be stunned, as Oklahoma opened the second set with six straight points, warranting a timeout from Colorado. A pair of aces, CU attack errors and OU kills caused the quick deficit. Following the timeout, Alexa Smith put down a quick kill to put possession back in the hands of Colorado. The Buffs responded with a block, kill and ace to move back into contention at 7-4. A smart kill from Anyse Smith putting a ball over the wall into the back corner helped CU start a rally that featured an Alexa Smith ace and a block error by Oklahoma to bring it to 8-7, Sooners. Brynna DeLuzio hit an ace to tie up the set at 11 apiece for the first time, and a net violation by Oklahoma gave Colorado its first lead of the set. DeLuzio continued with a second ace in three serves, forcing an Oklahoma timeout. The ensuing few rallies went back-and-forth, but the Sooners did reclaim the lead at 16-15. It wouldn't last very long, as Lillie Klemmer was a part of her fourth block to bring the set back into a tie, and Justine Spann took the lead back on the next swing of her arm. Anyse Smith continued to dominate, putting down her ninth kill of the match while hitting .615 for a 20-18 lead. The Sooners would rally back to tie it at 23 all. Following a CU timeout, Alexa Smith would put down two kills to bring set-point at 25-24, with Anyse Smith and Lillie Klemmer putting up a block for the set victory, 26-24.

SET 3: The teams traded points to a four all tie to start the third set. The tie would continue to eight all, then Oklahoma found a slight groove and moved to a two-point lead at 11-9. Colorado stormed back with a rally of five straight points to take a 16-12 lead and force an Oklahoma timeout. That rally would continue for another two points before the Sooners finally scored at 18-13. The Buffs would rally to a 25-15 third set victory to take the second sweep of the day.

UP NEXT: The Buffs stay home next weekend as they host the Colorado Classic. The team kicks things off against Portland State Friday evening at 7 p.m. in the CU Events Center. Colorado will have a long Saturday with a double-header beginning at 10 a.m. against Indiana State, then closing out the tournament against Colorado State at 8 p.m.

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Team Stats

Anyse Smith

Alexa Smith

Justine Spann

Lauren Dorrell

Players Mentioned

Naghede Abu

Brynna DeLuzio

Lauren Dorrell

Jenna Ewert

Lillie Klemmer

Alexa Smith

Anyse Smith

Justine Spann

Rachel Whipple

Players Mentioned

Naghede Abu

Brynna DeLuzio

Lauren Dorrell

Jenna Ewert

Lillie Klemmer

Alexa Smith

Anyse Smith

Justine Spann

Rachel Whipple