Buffs Head To Washington For Final Road Trip

BOULDER – The University of Colorado women's volleyball team enters a tough final third of the Pac-12 conference season that includes five matches against ranked opponents in the final six matches, starting with a trip to take on No.13 Washington and No. 22 Washington State.

The Buffs (11-13, 3-11 Pac-12) play in the final road trip of the regular season this weekend when they take on Washington (19-5, 10-4 Pac-12) Friday at 8 p.m. MT and Washington State (21-5, 10-4 Pac-12) Sunday at 1 p.m. MT. The team is two matches behind .500 and being postseason eligible and are seeking four more wins to hit the .500 mark or better.

Colorado has turned to freshman Elissa Alcantara to lead the team in the past four matches. Alcantara has 57 kills and is hitting .328 in the four-match streak where the Buffs went 3-1, averaging 3.8 kills per set. She has been joined by Justine Spann who had 46 kills in that stretch but a .125 hitting percentage.

Another key to CU's success is setter Jenna Ewert who is averaging 11.2 assists per set in the four matches in the second half of conference play. She has three double-doubles, all in the wins this season in the Pac-12, as well as 40 digs.

The other leader stepping up in this final stretch is Rachel Whipple at libero. She posted 69 digs in the four matches and 88 in the past five, averaging more than 4.6 digs per set. She is third in the conference in digs per set.

Colorado looks to pick up another win on the road then finish the final four matches at home against Cal, Stanford, Oregon and Utah in an eight-day window around Thanksgiving break.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Washington has just five losses this season, a four-set match at Hawaii, four-set loss at Washington State, four-set loss at USC, four-set loss at Utah and its only home loss in five-sets to USC. They also boast three top-10 wins including a four-set match at Wisconsin (now ranked No.7), a home sweep of the Badgers and a four-set win against former No.1-ranked Stanford (Now No.4).

The Huskies lead the Pac-12 in aces and blocks with 1.5 aces per set and nearly three blocks per set. Maria Bogomolova has 51 aces in conference this season and Kara Bajema is averaging 4.31 kills per set this season with nearly 400 kills and a .250 hitting percentage. The duo of Avie Niece and Lauren Sanders each have more than 100 blocks this season led by Niece's 120.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS
The Cougars have only five losses this season, a sweep against Iowa, a five-set loss at Cal, a sweep at UCLA, a five-set loss at home against Arizona State and a home sweep against UCLA. They boast the win against Washington at home and haven't faced Stanford yet this season but have two USC wins.

Washington State is second in opponent hitting percentage in the conference at just .191 as well as tied for first in digs per set at 15.45 per set. This team doesn't have a single player averaging more than three kills per set but do have six players averaging more than two kills per set led by Pia Timmer's 2.92. Alexis Dirige is second in the conference with 4.59 digs per set and Magda Jehlarova leads the Pac-12 with 1.54 blocks per set.

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Players Mentioned

Elissa Alcantara

Jenna Ewert

Justine Spann

Rachel Whipple