Team Effort Lifts Buffs to Sweep Ducks

BOULDER – The Colorado Buffaloes volleyball team took down the Oregon Ducks Wednesday afternoon by way of a 3-0 (30-28, 25-23, 25-22) sweep at home.

Colorado (13-16, 5-14 Pac-12) moves into 10th in the Pac-12 with the win and have a chance to tie Arizona for the ninth spot. The Ducks (8-20, 4-15 Pac-12) are in sole possession of 11th in the conference and will battle it out with in-state rivals Oregon State Friday to determine if they hold that position or share it with the Beavers.

The match was a story of each set with the Buffs turning to three different leaders in each game. Jenna Ewert dominated the first set dishing out 16 assists with three kills, an ace and five digs. The second set was Meegan Hart's turn to shine with eight kills on nine swings for a .777 hitting percentage along with a block and dig. The third set the Buffs turned to freshman Sterling Parker who had eight kills and a .538 hitting percentage.

Parker led the Buffs with 16 kills and a .571 hitting percentage as she was joined by Hart's 15 kills and .571 hitting percentage. Both were above .600 in the third set and were joined by Ewert who had six kills for a .600 hitting percentage in the match. Ewert finished with a double-double 41 assists and 11 digs (13.66 per set) while Hart finished with a match-high 18 points with a pair of aces, four digs and a block.

Serving was the key for Colorado as the team finished with seven aces led by Justine Spann's three including two in the last set to go along with four kills in the set. Colorado kept the Ducks out of system throughout the match between that and strong upfront blocking, but the back row was owned by Rachel Whipple who made numerous rally-saving digs to finish the match with 17-total including nine in the first set alone.

The Buffaloes close out the season Saturday at 11 a.m. when they take on No.17-ranked Utah for senior day.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Buffs opened the match by scoring back-to-back points before Oregon scored at 2-1. The teams went back-and-forth to a 5-5 tie before Colorado scored at 6-5. Hart put down two serving aces as the Buffs extended their lead to 9-5 on a four-point scoring run. The Ducks battled back to make it 13-12. Colorado led 15-12 at the first media timeout. Coming out of the break, Oregon went on a 3-1 scoring run, with the Buffs still up 16-15. Out of the second break, the Buffs responded with their own 3-1 run and pushed the lead to 19-16. Colorado held a three-point lead when they hit 20 points at 20-17. Oregon rallied back and tied the game at 22. The Buffs hit set-point at 24-22 off a Katie Lougeay ace, forcing an Oregon timeout. The Ducks went on a 3-0 scoring run to set up set-point at 25-24 and forcing Colorado into a timeout. The Buffs split the tie on a 2-0 run making the score 26-25 and forcing Oregon into their final timeout. The teams went back-and-forth to 28-all before CU finished off a three-point run on a Spann ace at 30-28. Hart had six kills, two aces and hit .556, Whipple had nine digs, and Ewert ended the set with 16 assists as the Buffs hit 20 kills.

To open the second set, Colorado led Oregon 5-3 with Whipple getting her 10th dig. The teams battled back-and-forth to 5-all before Colorado took a 6-5 lead on a Hart kill, her 10th of the match. The Ducks went on a 4-0 scoring run to take an 8-6 lead. The Buffs tied it up at 13-all before Oregon retook the lead at 14-13. Colorado took a 15-14 lead at the media timeout while Ewert had 25 assists. Out of the break, Colorado took a 19-16 lead, forcing the Ducks to call a timeout. Oregon challenged a Colorado point at 20-18, but it was upheld. Oregon battled back to tie it at 21-all, forcing a Colorado timeout. Coming out of the timeout, both teams traded points until Colorado took a 23-22 lead, forcing the Ducks to call a timeout. The Buffs hit set-point at 24-23 on another Hart kill. Colorado took the set at 25-23. Hart had 11 kills and was hitting .714 while Ewert had 26 assists and Whipple had 14 digs. Hart finished the set with eight kills on nine swings for a .777 hitting percentage.

To start the third set, both teams traded points to a five-all tie. The Buffs led 13-9 when the Ducks called their first timeout of the set with Hart and Parker both hitting over .600 and led by Hart's 15 kills. The Buffs jumped to 15-10 lead and extended it to 17-11 which forced the Ducks to call a timeout with the Buffs hitting .500. Coming out of the break, the Ducks put together a 3-0 run with a pair of blocks. Oregon challenged a tipped ball at 18-14, with it being upheld and keeping the score at 18-14. Oregon went on 4-1 run to force a Colorado timeout. Out of the break, the Buffs hit the 20-point mark with a two-point lead. Colorado rolled to match-point at 24-19. Oregon closed the gap to 24-22 forcing Colorado to call a timeout. After the pause, CU ended it on Parker's eighth kill of the set with the freshman hitting .538 in the set.

QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Mahoney
On the Match
"Looking at the records of both teams it's hard to understand that those are both really good volleyball teams out there. Oregon just came off a win at USC and there are two All-Americans playing on that squad. So, I was really happy and pleased that we were able to get the win. We had some tight moments in all three sets that we were able to overcome. We had some special plays down the stretch. We were able to be efficient in our middle and right side game today, even though we struggled a little bit on the outside but when we were able to control the ball we were able to score in the middle and right. That was all the difference, so excited for the win and told them that they could have one piece of pie."

On Blocking and Serving
"I do think that we served particularly well, they spent the night passing with two players and those are two really good players, so it's tough to get them out of system. We got some aces early but I don't think that we had a ton of stuff-blocks, we kind of funneled the ball where we needed it to go. I thought we defended particularly well, that is a great first-swing team and once we could create situations in which they had to take multiple swings we ended up winning most of those rallies."

On Rachel
"I feel like I say the same thing about Rachel all the time, I am so proud of her and her growth over the last four years, particularly in the second half of this season. She is second in Pac-12 matches in digs per set. She is just a different player in the second half. She is defending exceptionally well, as she extends rallies and really leads the back-court at a high level."

Freshman Sterling Parker

On her kills in the game, especially the third set
"I think that our passers did a really good job of keeping the ball where it needed to be. Once again, Jenna does a really good job of distributing the ball so when we pass well, we play well. That just makes us so much more confident so overall I think that is what took us to the win."

On Playing Utah on Saturday
"I think that this win we got today is going to really make us a lot more confident, especially going into our prep day. It is going to make us a lot more focused and just ready to take them down."

Redshirt Sophomore Meegan Hart

On her stellar performance
"I think that just going back there and being aggressive and confident. Overall, the team had a lot of energy tonight so that really fed into my confidence."

On Playing Utah on Saturday
"They are going to be a lot, especially on senior night, it might be our last game so I think we need to focus on being energized, confident and just give it our all."

Next Event

Team Stats

Sterling Parker

Meegan Hart

Justine Spann

Elissa Alcantara

Players Mentioned

Jenna Ewert

Meegan Hart

Katie Lougeay

Sterling Parker

Justine Spann

Rachel Whipple

Players Mentioned

Jenna Ewert

Meegan Hart

Katie Lougeay

Sterling Parker

Justine Spann

Rachel Whipple