
Photo by: Tony Harman
Colorado Suffers Sweep to No.13 Washington
November 15, 2019 | Volleyball
SEATTLE – The University of Colorado women's volleyball team fell to No.13-ranked Washington Friday evening in Seattle by way of a 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-19) sweep.
The Buffaloes (11-14, 3-12 Pac-12) struggled to stop the Huskies as Washington (20-5, 11-4 Pac-12) offense hit .346 in the match compared to Colorado's .163. The Huskies' blocking was a strong influence on the CU hitting percentage with 10 total blocks.
Sterling Parker led the Colorado attack with nine kills and a .438 hitting percentage. She was joined by Justine Spann with eight kills while Jenna Ewert went four-for-four with a 1.000 hitting percentage. The setter also dished out 21 assists and had eight digs.
The Buffs put down six blocks in the match, most coming in the second set. Danielle Price led the team with four block assists while Rachel Whipple had 13 digs in the back row.
Colorado struggled in hitting in the second outside hitter position as Jill Schneggenburger and Elissa Alcantara combined for 10 attack errors and a -.318 hitting percentage. Washington's service game put up six aces and 10 errors but kept the Buffs out of system numerous times leading to the poor hitting as well as the team having 15 fewer attack attempts as Washington.
The Huskies were led by Samantha Drechsel's 12 kills and .346 hitting percentage. She wasn't alone as a trio of UW players hit double-digit kills with Kara Bajema and Claire Hoffman finishing with 10. Setter Ella May Powell led the team in three categories with 33 assists, 12 digs and six block assists.
The Buffaloes return to action Sunday afternoon in Pullman against Washington State. The Cougars fell in four sets today to Utah.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Things started out strange as the Buffaloes realized upon arrival to the arena that they only had nine jerseys of the same color, so 10 total numbers to work with including a libero. The referees graciously agreed to allow CU to switch numbers to other players if needed between sets. Washington took an early 4-3 lead, hitting four kills on five tries. Colorado took the lead at 7-6 behind Spann's three kills. The Huskies put down a five-point run to steal the lead and force Colorado into a timeout at 12-8. The Buffs tied things up with a four-point run sparked by a pair of Parker kills and a block to bring things to 12-12. Another three-point run set Washington up 16-13. Washington hit the 20-point mark up three while hitting .364 but allowing four service errors to give CU a point gap at 20-18. Hart put down a kill to close the gap to one. Washington put down a pair of points to take a 22-19 lead, forcing CU into another timeout. Colorado came out with a Hart kill and Lougeay ace to close it to one at 22-21. UW closed out the set 25-22, hitting .317 while holding CU to a .135 hitting percentage. Spann led the squad with four kills and a .231 hitting percentage as Jill Schneggenburger had six digs.
The Huskies jumped out to a quick 4-2 lead with a pair of kills on three attempts. The Buffs tied it up after a huge Hart/Alcantara block at four-all. A Hart ace tied things back up at six as the teams traded points. Washington put together a three-point run to take a 10-7 lead. CU called its first timeout of the set after the Huskies took a 13-8 lead hitting .462 in the set as CU hit .333. The teams traded points to a 15-10 score until UW put down consecutive aces to force CU into a timeout, 17-10. The Washington middles were causing problems for the Buffs with 10 kills and combining for a .600 hitting percentage. Ewert put down her third kill on three tries to try and give Colorado a spark. UW hit the 20-point mark at 20-14 despite CU hitting .385 to Washington's .320. Washington reached set-point at 24-16 and closed it out two plays later with 11 more attempts than CU in the set after the Buffs gave away numerous free balls and turned back blocks.
A Hart kill gave CU an early 3-2 lead. Washington went on a four-point run to an 8-5 lead after Alcantara hit her sixth error at -.385 hitting percentage. Colorado called timeout a play later at 9-5. The Buffs ended the run after six-straight, then coach Mahoney challenged a touch on a Schneggenburger attack error at 11-6, but the play stood as called. Washington pushed to a score of 16-10 before Colorado called its final timeout with the Huskies hitting .375 compared to CU's .043. Colorado challenged a touch on the block as Washington extended its lead to 18-11, but the play stood as called without enough video evidence to overturn. UW extended its lead to 20-12 and began subbing in players. The Huskies had three players with 10 kills as Bajema hit her 10th to join Drechsel and Hoffman. The team hit match-point at 24-16, but CU strung together three-straight points before Drechsel finished it at 25-19.
QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Mahoney
Overall Thoughts on the Match
I thought Washington served extremely well, especially in sets two and three. They got us out of system a lot by serving particularly well and blocking particularly well. We struggled to run the offense we needed to run. We had some nice runs defensively at times but not enough at the net to slow them down the way we needed to. An unfortunate match.
On Sterling Hitting
Sterling had a great match. We needed to get her the ball more, it was a struggle to be able to do that. It's nice to have one or two players hit for good numbers but we can't balance that out with errors in other places. I'm happy for Sterling, she continues to progress and we are excited about her.
On the Blocking Swings
You get more blocks when the other team is out of system, so serving and blocking really go hand-in-hand. We had a nice run there in set two and they made some adjustments in set three. They were in system and we couldn't slow them down enough.
The Buffaloes (11-14, 3-12 Pac-12) struggled to stop the Huskies as Washington (20-5, 11-4 Pac-12) offense hit .346 in the match compared to Colorado's .163. The Huskies' blocking was a strong influence on the CU hitting percentage with 10 total blocks.
Sterling Parker led the Colorado attack with nine kills and a .438 hitting percentage. She was joined by Justine Spann with eight kills while Jenna Ewert went four-for-four with a 1.000 hitting percentage. The setter also dished out 21 assists and had eight digs.
The Buffs put down six blocks in the match, most coming in the second set. Danielle Price led the team with four block assists while Rachel Whipple had 13 digs in the back row.
Colorado struggled in hitting in the second outside hitter position as Jill Schneggenburger and Elissa Alcantara combined for 10 attack errors and a -.318 hitting percentage. Washington's service game put up six aces and 10 errors but kept the Buffs out of system numerous times leading to the poor hitting as well as the team having 15 fewer attack attempts as Washington.
The Huskies were led by Samantha Drechsel's 12 kills and .346 hitting percentage. She wasn't alone as a trio of UW players hit double-digit kills with Kara Bajema and Claire Hoffman finishing with 10. Setter Ella May Powell led the team in three categories with 33 assists, 12 digs and six block assists.
The Buffaloes return to action Sunday afternoon in Pullman against Washington State. The Cougars fell in four sets today to Utah.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Things started out strange as the Buffaloes realized upon arrival to the arena that they only had nine jerseys of the same color, so 10 total numbers to work with including a libero. The referees graciously agreed to allow CU to switch numbers to other players if needed between sets. Washington took an early 4-3 lead, hitting four kills on five tries. Colorado took the lead at 7-6 behind Spann's three kills. The Huskies put down a five-point run to steal the lead and force Colorado into a timeout at 12-8. The Buffs tied things up with a four-point run sparked by a pair of Parker kills and a block to bring things to 12-12. Another three-point run set Washington up 16-13. Washington hit the 20-point mark up three while hitting .364 but allowing four service errors to give CU a point gap at 20-18. Hart put down a kill to close the gap to one. Washington put down a pair of points to take a 22-19 lead, forcing CU into another timeout. Colorado came out with a Hart kill and Lougeay ace to close it to one at 22-21. UW closed out the set 25-22, hitting .317 while holding CU to a .135 hitting percentage. Spann led the squad with four kills and a .231 hitting percentage as Jill Schneggenburger had six digs.
The Huskies jumped out to a quick 4-2 lead with a pair of kills on three attempts. The Buffs tied it up after a huge Hart/Alcantara block at four-all. A Hart ace tied things back up at six as the teams traded points. Washington put together a three-point run to take a 10-7 lead. CU called its first timeout of the set after the Huskies took a 13-8 lead hitting .462 in the set as CU hit .333. The teams traded points to a 15-10 score until UW put down consecutive aces to force CU into a timeout, 17-10. The Washington middles were causing problems for the Buffs with 10 kills and combining for a .600 hitting percentage. Ewert put down her third kill on three tries to try and give Colorado a spark. UW hit the 20-point mark at 20-14 despite CU hitting .385 to Washington's .320. Washington reached set-point at 24-16 and closed it out two plays later with 11 more attempts than CU in the set after the Buffs gave away numerous free balls and turned back blocks.
A Hart kill gave CU an early 3-2 lead. Washington went on a four-point run to an 8-5 lead after Alcantara hit her sixth error at -.385 hitting percentage. Colorado called timeout a play later at 9-5. The Buffs ended the run after six-straight, then coach Mahoney challenged a touch on a Schneggenburger attack error at 11-6, but the play stood as called. Washington pushed to a score of 16-10 before Colorado called its final timeout with the Huskies hitting .375 compared to CU's .043. Colorado challenged a touch on the block as Washington extended its lead to 18-11, but the play stood as called without enough video evidence to overturn. UW extended its lead to 20-12 and began subbing in players. The Huskies had three players with 10 kills as Bajema hit her 10th to join Drechsel and Hoffman. The team hit match-point at 24-16, but CU strung together three-straight points before Drechsel finished it at 25-19.
QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Mahoney
Overall Thoughts on the Match
I thought Washington served extremely well, especially in sets two and three. They got us out of system a lot by serving particularly well and blocking particularly well. We struggled to run the offense we needed to run. We had some nice runs defensively at times but not enough at the net to slow them down the way we needed to. An unfortunate match.
On Sterling Hitting
Sterling had a great match. We needed to get her the ball more, it was a struggle to be able to do that. It's nice to have one or two players hit for good numbers but we can't balance that out with errors in other places. I'm happy for Sterling, she continues to progress and we are excited about her.
On the Blocking Swings
You get more blocks when the other team is out of system, so serving and blocking really go hand-in-hand. We had a nice run there in set two and they made some adjustments in set three. They were in system and we couldn't slow them down enough.
Team Stats
COLO
WASH
Kills
31
49
Errors
16
12
Attempts
92
107
Hitting %
.163
.346
Points
40.0
65.0
Assists
28
41
Aces
3
6
Blocks
6.0
10.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Players Mentioned
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