Buffs Fall to Sun Devils in Four

TEMPE – Colorado women's volleyball fell to Arizona State University, 3-1 (31-29, 25-22, 16-25, 25-18) Friday evening in Tempe in a back-and-forth match that featured 37 ties and 19 lead changes.

The Buffaloes (8-5, 0-3 Pac-12) held the Sun Devils (10-4, 2-1 Pac-12) to just a .135 team hitting percentage and forced them into 31 attack errors behind CU's 16 blocks. Despite these numbers Colorado couldn't overcome ASU's 52 kills and added to their score with 15 service errors while allowing seven aces.

Colorado weighed heavily on the middles as the outside hitters were all hitting under .160. Meegan Hart put down a career-high 13 kills with a .462 hitting percentage after only hitting a single error. She put up quite a stat line for a middle with an assist, two aces, a pair of digs and five total blocks including three solo. She finished with a match-high 19 points.

Justine Spann's final homecoming didn't go as well as she would've liked with nine kills and a .048 hitting percentage. She was one of the few Buffs without a service error, but also was teed up on with four reception errors. The freshmen duo Sterling Parker and Jill Schneggenburger each had seven kills with a .125 and .160 hitting percentage, respectfully. Parker led the defensive battle with a career-high eight blocks.

Senior Rachel Whipple continued where she left off last weekend with back-to-back 20 dig performances. She was joined by Jenna Ewert who picked up a double-double with 36 assists and 15 digs. Danielle Price had a strong blocking performance with six.

Arizona State worked in pairs, led by Ivana Jeremic's 13 kills and Jada Burse's 12. Both setters picked up double-doubles with 20 assists and 10 digs to Nicole Peterson and 26 and 15 to Callie Jones. Jeremic led the Sun Devils with 17 digs, while libero Courtney Leffel picked up a dozen.

Colorado travels to Tucson to take on Arizona Sunday in a matchup of the only two teams without a win in conference play. The Wildcats fell to No.20 Utah tonight in a four-set match, leaving both teams to look for their first Pac-12 win starting Sunday at 1 p.m. (MT).

HOW IT HAPPENED
The match started out with three combined service errors from both teams to a 2-2 tie. Neither team gained more than a one-point advantage until ASU reached 10-8, extending with a 3-0 run to 11-8 before Head Coach Jesse Mahoney called timeout with the Buffs hitting -.133. The largest lead was reached at 14-10 before CU cut into it with back-to-back points. The Buffs trailed by just one for the first time at 16-15. Both teams struggled to serve as each team had as many service errors as kills at 19-17 with the Sun Devils committing six and CU five. Colorado closed the gap to one against at 20-19, forcing ASU into a timeout with the Colorado middles combining for five kills on six swings led by Hart's four kills. Out of the break the Buffs tied up the match on a Schneggenburger kills, then took the lead at 21-20. The Buffs kept that one-point lead as the teams kept siding out to a 23-22 lead. Following another CU service error and a Parker attack, both close to the line, ASU hit set-point at 24-23. The Buffs survived the first, then committed another service error in which CU called timeout at 25-24. A huge Sterling Parker and Danielle Price block turned back another set-point, then a kill from Spann gave CU its first set-point at 27-26. An ASU kill and Buffs ball handling flipped things back to ASU, 28-27, but another service error tied it up for Colorado. The same outcome happened as the Sun Devils put down their ninth service error to send things to 29 all. The Sun Devils sealed the first-set victory at 31-29 as both teams combined for 16 service errors. Devils outside Jada Burse had six kills in the set hitting .417, while Hart finished with four kills and hitting .500.

Colorado picked up a 2-0 lead in the first after a Parker kill. After leading 4-1, ASU stormed back with a 4-0 run to reclaim the lead. The Devils continued to lead to the 10-point mark by two, but Colorado notched it back up with a block. The Buffaloes reclaimed the lead at 12-11 off a Schneggenburger ace. The Sun Devils claimed the lead at 13-12, holding to the media timeout at 15-14. The lead extended to 18-15 before Hart put down her fifth kill. Not liking the setup, Mahoney called timeout right before the service whistle with the team trailing 20-17. Out of the break CU put down a pair of points to close the gap to one, forcing and ASU timeout. The Devils pushed to a three-point advantage at 22-19, then a Price kill and attack error closed the gap again to just one. Spann put down a huge kill to hold of set-point, but ASU converted on Burse's 11^th kill to reach the first set-point at 24-22. The Sun Devils closed it out one play later with a block.

The Buffs kicked off the third set with the first three points and a sense of urgency. Ewert picked up her double-double with 20 assists and 10 digs as Colorado held a 5-3 lead. ASU closed the gap to a 7-6 Colorado advantage when Mahoney subbed in Elissa Alcantara. Hart put down a kill to spark a Colorado 4-0 run with the middle serving, leading to an ASU timeout. Colorado pushed its lead to six with a 13-7 advantage with the Buffs hitting .353. A Spann kill gave CU an 18-11 lead, forcing a timeout from the Sun Devils. Arizona State began to work its way back with a 5-1 run, but CU's 11^th block gave the Buffs a 21-16 lead. That sparked a 4-0 run that gave Cu set-point at 24-16, closing it out on a Schneggenburger kill. CU hit .286 in the set and held ASU to just a -.029 hitting percentage.

Colorado started the fourth set with the first point, then challenged the third unsuccessfully to trail 2-1. Both teams continued to battle to a 6-5 CU lead off of Hart's 11^th kill with a .435 hitting percentage. Lillie Klemmer stepped in at middle for Price after she looked to be struggling with a knee injury, following shortly with another Hart ace. An ASU challenge on a blocking error turned the call against the Buffs, giving the Sun Devils an 11-9 lead. Back-to-back blocks tied the set at 12 all, then another after a service error gave Colorado a 13-12 lead with three blocks in four plays. Arizona State took the lead at the media timeout, 15-14. The Sun Devils put down a 4-0 run to take a 17-14 lead. They pushed to 19-15 before Colorado called timeout. A three-point run gave Arizona State a commanding 23-17 lead, forcing the final Colorado timeout. A service ace set up match-point out of the break. The Buffs were called on a blocking error for the final point, challenged by Mahoney but there wasn't enough evidence to overturn the call.

QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Mahoney
On the Match
I think we left the first set on the table, we served out seven times and didn't take care of the ball very well. It put us in a hole for the rest of the match. Our serving in general was very poor, 16 percent errors is about double the threshold we aim for. We passed poorly in three of the four sets. You just can't win on the road with bad serving and passing, so we have to regroup and play another good team on Sunday.

On the Blocking
That's a nice number (with 16 team blocks). I thought we left some on the table as well. That being said, we created a lot opportunities to transition just didn't score very well.

On Meegan's Performance
She was really our only efficient attacker. We have got to find ways to get her the ball more.

Next Event

Team Stats

Meegan Hart

Justine Spann

Sterling Parker

Jill Schneggenburger

Players Mentioned

Elissa Alcantara

Jenna Ewert

Meegan Hart

Lillie Klemmer

Sterling Parker

Danielle Price

Jill Schneggenburger

Justine Spann

Rachel Whipple

Players Mentioned

Elissa Alcantara

Jenna Ewert

Meegan Hart

Lillie Klemmer

Sterling Parker

Danielle Price

Jill Schneggenburger

Justine Spann

Rachel Whipple