Saturday, September 8
Boulder, CO
12:00 PM
Colorado
3
vs
0
North Carolina
Players Mentioned
S/L
/ Volleyball
OPP
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ Volleyball
Photo by: Tim Benko, Benko Photographics
Buffs Rebound with Sweep of Tarheels
September 08, 2018 | Volleyball
BOULDER, Colo. — The University of Colorado women's volleyball team rebounded quickly in the 2018 Buffs Invitational Saturday afternoon with a sweep (25-14, 25-18, 25-20) of University of North Carolina. The Buffs need to catch their breath quickly as the team takes on the Sooners of the University of Oklahoma tonight in the CU Events Center at 7 p.m. The match will be streamed live on Pac-12 Plus.
The Buffs came together strong, posting its second-highest hitting percentage in a match this season at .318. Defense and good offense was the key to the victory, with CU posting seven blocks after only having a pair last night. They also held the Tarheels to just .116 hitting, a season-low for the Buffs.
Much like last night, Colorado came out very balanced in the match. Alexa Smith had a team-high 11 kills, while Justine Spann and Anyse Smith each added nine. Spann hit .500 in the match, while Anyse Smith hit .467, both having a very efficient afternoon. Jenna Ewert posted 17 assists, while Brynna DeLuzio had 16 assists.
The defense was the strong point, holding North Carolina's Destiny Cox to just three kills after she had more than 23 last night against Oklahoma. Rachel Whipple was the glue in the back row, posting 14 digs in the match, doubling the next highest Buff in digs. Up front, Lillie Klemmer made huge jumps in improvements from last night, posting five block assists. Anyse Smith added in three blocks, while Alexa Smith, Allie Moger and Lauren Dorrell each had a pair.
The Buffs Invitational is shaking up, as each team in the tournament is 1-1. Oklahoma fell to North Carolina in five last night, then took down previously-unbeaten Georgia in five tonight. North Carolina and Georgia will finish out the tournament tomorrow at 11 a.m. in the CU Events Center, with CU and OU battling it out tonight to see who will be at 2-1 for the weekend.
WHAT HAPPENED:
SET 1: The Buffs took things with a different perspective, putting up a pair of blocks early in the set to take a 3-2 lead. CU continued to roll with Lillie Klemmer finding an early pair of blocks and a quick 6-4 Buffs lead that led to a North Carolina timeout. The blocks continued, as CU found its third block for an 8-5 lead, more blocks than the team had all last night. Colorado continued to roll to a 14-9 lead, despite just having three kills in the set. A span of three straight kills from Anyse Smith, Alexa Smith and Justine Spann grew the lead to 18-10, forcing another UNC timeout. The break in action didn't help much, as CU came out and extended their lead to 21-11 off another Spann kill. Freshman Allie Moger continued to improve in the set, putting down her second kill of the set to help put the match at 23-13. The Buffs rolled to set point and finished it off with a Spann ace, taking it 25-14. The team had four blocks in the set, doubling up last night's total block count. The Buffs held the Tarheel's freshman star Destiny Cox to just a single kill and a -.273 hitting percentage. CU also had an outstanding sideout percentage of 80.
SET 2: Alexa Smith took the first set by storm with a trio of early kills and a 5-1 lead. Despite starting out the first half of the first set with a hitting percentage around .112, the team found its flow and bumped that up to .459 with an 11-4 lead in set two. Freshman Jenna Ewert found her 10th assist of the match, as her setter teammate stepped in at 13-6 with a quick ace. Moger continued to shine with her third kill helping bring CU to a 17-9 lead. The Buffs continued to pressure the Tarheels, holding the team to just a .016 hitting percentage at 18-11. The teams would trade points, with North Carolina clawing back to a 20-15 score. The team rolled to the set win by a score of 25-18, led by Smith with nine kills, six coming in that set alone.
SET 3: The team continued to work together well, putting up an 8-4 lead. A three-point run for UNC brought the team within a pair at 10-8, but Lauren Dorrell put down her third kill of the match to stop the run. Justine Spann brought her kill total up to eight and the lead to 17-12, as CU was looking for a potential sweep. The teams would trade points to a 20-17 score, as Anyse Smith added to her nine kills. Down 22-18, North Carolina took a timeout hoping to avoid the sweep. Out of the break Ewert put down an ace, the team's fifth of the match. An Alexa Smith ace sealed the win, giving CU its second sweep of the season.
QUOTABLES:
Jesse Mahoney
On the offense and the match
"I thought we passed really well today. Both setters were able to set with tempo. Last night we were able to hit around .300 as well, so offensively we are doing some good things. We have lots of options there, it was nice seeing Allie Moger have some nice swings there as well. For us this season it has been about defense and game plan, which I thought we did well."
On the defensive adjustments and execution
"We have two starting middles out, so we have some kids that are kind of first-time thrown into the fire. Last night they maybe didn't play as well as we wanted to and certainly didn't block like we wanted to. I thought we did a really nice job, Lillie did a really nice job making some corrections. Allie offensively did a nice job and got into a nice rhythm defensively. We served really well so they weren't in system very much. Their outside hitters were hitting against a better formed double block and I think that was really the difference in the match."
The Buffs came together strong, posting its second-highest hitting percentage in a match this season at .318. Defense and good offense was the key to the victory, with CU posting seven blocks after only having a pair last night. They also held the Tarheels to just .116 hitting, a season-low for the Buffs.
Much like last night, Colorado came out very balanced in the match. Alexa Smith had a team-high 11 kills, while Justine Spann and Anyse Smith each added nine. Spann hit .500 in the match, while Anyse Smith hit .467, both having a very efficient afternoon. Jenna Ewert posted 17 assists, while Brynna DeLuzio had 16 assists.
The defense was the strong point, holding North Carolina's Destiny Cox to just three kills after she had more than 23 last night against Oklahoma. Rachel Whipple was the glue in the back row, posting 14 digs in the match, doubling the next highest Buff in digs. Up front, Lillie Klemmer made huge jumps in improvements from last night, posting five block assists. Anyse Smith added in three blocks, while Alexa Smith, Allie Moger and Lauren Dorrell each had a pair.
The Buffs Invitational is shaking up, as each team in the tournament is 1-1. Oklahoma fell to North Carolina in five last night, then took down previously-unbeaten Georgia in five tonight. North Carolina and Georgia will finish out the tournament tomorrow at 11 a.m. in the CU Events Center, with CU and OU battling it out tonight to see who will be at 2-1 for the weekend.
WHAT HAPPENED:
SET 1: The Buffs took things with a different perspective, putting up a pair of blocks early in the set to take a 3-2 lead. CU continued to roll with Lillie Klemmer finding an early pair of blocks and a quick 6-4 Buffs lead that led to a North Carolina timeout. The blocks continued, as CU found its third block for an 8-5 lead, more blocks than the team had all last night. Colorado continued to roll to a 14-9 lead, despite just having three kills in the set. A span of three straight kills from Anyse Smith, Alexa Smith and Justine Spann grew the lead to 18-10, forcing another UNC timeout. The break in action didn't help much, as CU came out and extended their lead to 21-11 off another Spann kill. Freshman Allie Moger continued to improve in the set, putting down her second kill of the set to help put the match at 23-13. The Buffs rolled to set point and finished it off with a Spann ace, taking it 25-14. The team had four blocks in the set, doubling up last night's total block count. The Buffs held the Tarheel's freshman star Destiny Cox to just a single kill and a -.273 hitting percentage. CU also had an outstanding sideout percentage of 80.
SET 2: Alexa Smith took the first set by storm with a trio of early kills and a 5-1 lead. Despite starting out the first half of the first set with a hitting percentage around .112, the team found its flow and bumped that up to .459 with an 11-4 lead in set two. Freshman Jenna Ewert found her 10th assist of the match, as her setter teammate stepped in at 13-6 with a quick ace. Moger continued to shine with her third kill helping bring CU to a 17-9 lead. The Buffs continued to pressure the Tarheels, holding the team to just a .016 hitting percentage at 18-11. The teams would trade points, with North Carolina clawing back to a 20-15 score. The team rolled to the set win by a score of 25-18, led by Smith with nine kills, six coming in that set alone.
SET 3: The team continued to work together well, putting up an 8-4 lead. A three-point run for UNC brought the team within a pair at 10-8, but Lauren Dorrell put down her third kill of the match to stop the run. Justine Spann brought her kill total up to eight and the lead to 17-12, as CU was looking for a potential sweep. The teams would trade points to a 20-17 score, as Anyse Smith added to her nine kills. Down 22-18, North Carolina took a timeout hoping to avoid the sweep. Out of the break Ewert put down an ace, the team's fifth of the match. An Alexa Smith ace sealed the win, giving CU its second sweep of the season.
QUOTABLES:
Jesse Mahoney
On the offense and the match
"I thought we passed really well today. Both setters were able to set with tempo. Last night we were able to hit around .300 as well, so offensively we are doing some good things. We have lots of options there, it was nice seeing Allie Moger have some nice swings there as well. For us this season it has been about defense and game plan, which I thought we did well."
On the defensive adjustments and execution
"We have two starting middles out, so we have some kids that are kind of first-time thrown into the fire. Last night they maybe didn't play as well as we wanted to and certainly didn't block like we wanted to. I thought we did a really nice job, Lillie did a really nice job making some corrections. Allie offensively did a nice job and got into a nice rhythm defensively. We served really well so they weren't in system very much. Their outside hitters were hitting against a better formed double block and I think that was really the difference in the match."
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