Huskies Block Out Buffs

BOULDER – The Colorado Buffaloes volleyball team was overpowered by No.9-ranked Washington Sunday afternoon in a four-set, 3-1 (25-15, 25-20, 22-25, 25-13), loss in Boulder.

The Huskies (16-4, 7-3 Pac-12) put down 17.5 team blocks against the Buffs (8-12, 0-10 Pac-12), forcing Colorado to a .155 hitting percentage compared to Washington's .288.

Colorado's Justine Spann led the offense with a double-double 14 kills and 16 digs. She was the target for the Husky service game, putting up 38 receptions successfully but also having five reception errors. Sterling Parker and Meegan Hart joined the attack with 10 kills each, led by Hart's .333 hitting percentage.

Sophomore setter Jenna Ewert flirted with a triple-double for the second time in her career. Ewert had seven kills without an error in four sets while hitting .538. She also dished out 38 assists, seven digs and four blocks.

The back row was commanded by Rachel Whipple's 19 digs. The senior libero was all over the court and was crucial to CU's third set victory, making a pair of diving digs to keep rallies alive. She was joined by Hart's five blocks in the front.

Washington put up a wall that Colorado struggled to work through with 17 of CU's 29 attack errors coming from blocks. Lauren Sanders put down 10 block assists while Avie Niece had seven and Samantha Drechsel added six block assists. Drechsel had herself a night with 18 kills and a .469 hitting percentage despite only playing in the front row for most of the match. Colorado did a good job containing three-time Pac-12 Player of the Week Kara Bajema who had 14 kills and a .191 hitting percentage. Setter Ella May Powell had 43 assists and three aces.

With the first half of the Pac-12 conference play complete, Colorado will flip locations and host Arizona and Arizona State on Friday and Sunday. The team has seen nine of their 10 remaining opponents with the lone exception coming when Oregon travels to Boulder the day before Thanksgiving.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Buffaloes began the set with a challenge of a tipped ball by the Huskies who were awarded the point. CU went on a 3-2 run to tie it up at three apiece. Colorado put up a three-point run that gave them the 7-6 lead over the Huskies while hitting .200 to UW's .125. Washington responded with a three-point run and a Bajema ace to lead the Buffs 9-7. A Colorado timeout was forced after a four-point run by the Huskies who were hitting .222 over CU's .130. Out of the break, UW extended their run to five giving them a 16-11 lead over the Buffs. The Huskies 7-1 run with Drechsel's five kills and .714 hitting percentage led to CU's second called timeout. Washington developed a run of four while holding the Buffs to a .094 hitting percentage that gave them the 23-13 lead. UW set up set-point after a Sanders' kill that was won two points later with a Cole kill.

Colorado starts off the second set with a 4-1 run that was extended to 5-2 several points later. The Buffs extend their lead 9-6 after a 4-0 run over the Huskies. CU led 13-11 while outhitting the Huskies .333 to .250. Washington was able to tie it up 14 all after a three-point run that turned into a 4-0 run forcing a Colorado timeout. Back into action, the Huskies extended their run to 7-0 while outhitting Colorado .296 to .188. Drechsel and Bajema led Washington thus far with seven kills each and Spann topped the leaderboard for Colorado at eight kills. A block from the Huskies lined up set-point 24-20 as Colorado took their second timeout of the set. Washington took the set one point later.

CU and UW battled back-and-forth early into the third set to a 4-4 tie. Both teams continued to battle back-and-forth to an 8-8 tie as CU was out-hitting Washington .273 to .250 behind Ewert's 21 assists. The Buffs challenged a tipped ball by UW and was awarded the point that evened out the score 10-10. CU went on a 5-1 scoring run that landed them a two-point lead over the Huskies as Ewert added four more assists to give her 25 on the day. A Perry ace that gave the Buffs a 7-2 run that forced the Huskies to call their first timeout of the set. Out of the break, Washington went on a 4-1 run that put them within one of Colorado's lead, 18-17. With CU out-hitting UW .360 to .240, the Buffs extended their lead 20-18 while Spann racked up her 11th kill of the day. Colorado called their first timeout of the set after Washington scored two straight to put them one behind, 22-21. After the break, the Buffs had set-point which was won two points later with a Hart kill with Colorado out-hitting the Huskies .394 to .242 and Ewert tallying her 30th assist on the day.

Into the fourth set, the Huskies went on a three-point run after a Parker error. After Washington went on a 5-2 scoring run Colorado called their first timeout of the set. UW put together another 3-0 run that gave them a 9-3 lead while holding Colorado to a .071 hitting percentage. Spann had a double-double with 14 kills and 13 digs while Ewert had a career-high seven kills thus far. Washington went on to develop a three-point run that gave them the 16-9 lead and forced Colorado's second timeout. UW extended its run to six while holding the Buffs to a -.091 hitting percentage. The Huskies set up match-point after a Perry service error that was won on the next point. Washington held Colorado to a -.065 hitting percentage in the set as Drechsel ended with a double-double with 18 kills and 12 digs and Ewert finished the day with 38 assists.

QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Mahoney

On The Match
"Washington is a really good team. They played pretty well. They finished with 17.5 blocks. That is pretty impressive. This match can be encapsulated purely in serving and passing. I thought they served exceptionally well. That is our worst passing performance, or close to it at least, in a while. Washington did a great job there. The one set that we passed well is the set that we won. That being said, I thought we fought well. We played hard and worked hard to execute and do what the coaches were asking the players to do. We have to continue to do that in the second half. We have to find a way to get better in the next couple of weeks."

On Approaching The Second Half
"We will approach the second half without a lot of changes. We know the areas that we are weak at and we work on those every day. We know the areas we are strong at and work on those every day. We have put together some really good sets in the first half. We haven't done it enough back-to-back-to-back. We need to find a way to be a little more consistent. In the second half, it will be incumbent on us to show up every day and continue to work hard regardless of what our record is and continue to work on whatever it is individually we need to get better at and as a team. We get the day off on Monday and then are back to work on Tuesday because everyone else is going to continue to work hard in the PAC (12). We need to find a way to catch up and surpass teams a little bit."

Senior Rachel Whipple

On Making Big Saves In Third Set And The Backrow
We definitely practiced our blocking this week which helped out a lot. Just recognizing that I need to trust the blockers, they helped me out a lot for sure. Our players and our defense stopped a little bit more today than what we have in the past. So we improved in that way a little bit today.

On Seeing Their Opponents Again
I think that we will know their tendencies a lot more. In the first five to six matches we didn't really execute the game plan that well so I think that we need to improve in that area. So if we execute and pass better that will help out a lot.

Redshirt Sophomore Meegan Hart

On The Changes In The Third Set
I think just passing well gave us some momentum and energy. Just because I thought there was a lot more energy and it showed.

On Seeing Their Opponents Again
Now we know what to expect so it is on us.

Next Event

Team Stats

Justine Spann

Meegan Hart

Sterling Parker

Jenna Ewert

Players Mentioned

Jenna Ewert

Meegan Hart

Sterling Parker

Justine Spann

Rachel Whipple

Players Mentioned

Jenna Ewert

Meegan Hart

Sterling Parker

Justine Spann

Rachel Whipple