Saturday, November 30
Boulder, Colo.
11:00 AM
Colorado
13-17,5-15Pac-12
0
vs
3
Utah
22-9,14-6Pac-12
1
2
3
F
Utah
25
25
25
3
Colorado
20
18
19
0
Photo by: Tim Benko, Benko Photographics
Utes Sweep Buffaloes On Senior Day
November 30, 2019 | Volleyball
BOULDER – On an emotional morning in Boulder, the Colorado Buffaloes volleyball team suffered a sweep at the hands of No.17-ranked Utah to close out the 2019 season and the careers of three special seniors.
Colorado (13-17, 5-15 Pac-12) finishes the season in 10th in the Pac-12 while Utah (22-9, 14-6 Pac-12) is all but certain to move on to the NCAA Tournament next week.
The match marked the end of an era with the first four-year class under Head Coach Jesse Mahoney as seniors Justine Spann, Rachel Whipple and Lillie Klemmer all made their final starts in a Buffs uniform. Spann led the Buffaloes with nine kills while Whipple had four digs and Klemmer had a kill and four blocks. The four seniors combined for the fourth-most wins against ranked opponents in school history.
The Buffaloes struggled on offense throughout the match as setter Jenna Ewert was the only player that hit greater than .083. The sophomore had four kills and a .429 hitting percentage with 22 assists and six digs. Meegan Hart had four kills in the middle but contributed greatly from the service line with three aces.
On the defensive side, Jill Schneggenburger led the team with eight digs while Spann collected six. Freshmen Elissa Alcantara and Sterling Parker each had a pair of blocks while Parker was second on the team with six kills.
Utah had a dominant match with 11.5 team blocks to hold the Buffs to a .051 team hitting percentage. Kenzie Koerber and Berkeley Oblad each had five blocks while Dani Drews was a force on offense with 21 kills and a .302 hitting percentage.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Utah opened the match on a 3-1 run before Colorado scored. The Utes put together another 3-1 scoring run to reach 6-3. Colorado responded and went on a 4-0 run before Utah scored at seven-all. Utah challenged a call at 9-8, but the call was upheld for a Buff's point. Both teams went back-and-forth until Utah scored back-to-back points at 11-9. The Utes went on a 4-1 scoring run that led to the media timeout at 15-12. Coming out of the break, Utah scored back-to-back points forcing Colorado to call a timeout at 17-12. Coming out of the timeout, Utah scored back-to-back points and pushed their run to five before Colorado scored at 19-13. Utah hit the 20-point mark with a six-point lead before Colorado scored at 21-14. The Buffs went on a 3-1 scoring run at 22-17 before the Utes scored at 23-17. Colorado went on a 4-1 scoring run at 23-20 forcing Utah into a timeout. At the timeout, Drews was leading all players with seven kills and hitting .429. Utah hit set-point at 24-20 monetarily, when Colorado challenged a net-fault, but the call was upheld. Utah won the set at 25-20. At the end of the first set, Utah hit .270 as a team, while Colorado hit .121. Drews led both teams with seven kills and hit .429 and Ka'aha'aina-Torres had 12 assists. For the Buffs, Ewert had seven assists and hit .750.
To start the second set, both teams traded points until Colorado challenged a call that was reversed, making the score 8-6 on back-to-back points for the Buffs. Utah responded with a 3-1 scoring run until Colorado scored at 11-10. The Buffs responded with their own scoring run, 4-1, before the Utes scored at 14-12. At the media timeout, Colorado led Utah 15-13. Drews led both teams with 10 kills and Ka'aha'aina-Torres led both teams with 18 assists. Coming out of the break, Utah went on a 4-1 run before Colorado scored at 17-all. The Utes scored back-to-back points to force a Colorado timeout at 19-17. Coming out of the break, Utah scored extending their scoring run 3-0. Utah hit the 20-point mark at 20-17. The Utes went on a 5-1 run at 22-18, forcing Colorado to call a timeout. Coming out of the break, Utah extended their scoring run until they hit set-point at 24-18. Utah won the set on an 8-1 run. Utah had seven blocks in the set, making their total nine for the match. Drews had 12 kills and Ka'aha'aina-Torres had 22 assists. As a team, Utah hit .386 and Colorado hit .273.
To start the third set, Utah went on a 3-1 run before Colorado scored. The Buffs went on a 3-0 scoring run as the score moved to four-all. Utah answered the Buffs scoring run with a 4-0 run of their own, forcing Colorado into their first timeout of the set at 7-4. At the timeout, Drews had 17 kills and Ka'aha'aina-Torres had 24 assists for the Utes. Coming out of the timeout, the Buffs went on a 3-1 run before the Utes scored at 9-7. Utah went on a 3-0 run forcing Colorado into their second timeout of the set at 11-7. Ka'aha'aina-Torres had 27 assists at the break. Coming out of the timeout, both teams went back-and-forth until the Utes went on a 4-1 scoring run before the Buffs scored at 16-11. Utah hit the 20-point mark with an eight-point lead, on a 4-0 scoring run, before CU scored at 20-13. Both teams traded points until Utah hit match-point at 24-16. The Buffs attempted to take the set with a late 3-1 scoring run, but Utah won the match at 25-19. Drews led both teams with 21 kills and Ka'aha'aina-Torres led both teams with 35 assists. For the Buffs, Ewert finished with 22 assists and hit .429. Utah hit .351 in the final set and .292 in the match.
QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Mahoney
On The Match
"It was a tough match to end our season, I don't think that this match was indicative of how we've been playing of late. With that being said, Utah is really good. That is as good of a team as we have seen all season. They blocked particularly well and defended us particularly well, we struggled to score. They are a seeded team in the NCAA tournament. With that being said, I am proud of what we have done over the last half, especially with how we started Pac-12. To finish 5-5 with the wins that we have had, I think it is a testament to how hard this team continued to work throughout the season. I think that it was directly related to the leadership that we have on this team with these three seniors. Unfortunately, our season is over, but I think that we have some building blocks and some things to be able to propel us next year. We are looking forward to getting in the gym when we can, we are taking a break, but we are looking forward to getting back into the gym and getting ready for next season."
On The Development Of The Seniors
"I think that Rachel mentioned that we were all freshmen together that first year. The first group that you have is always cool. I think that there are a lot of great things about my job, and one of the best parts of my job is getting to be around young people as they grow and mature and turn into young women. All three of them have had ups and downs on the court, and ups and downs in their lives, and yet all three of them have grown to be really special people. I have been lucky enough, my staff and I, to be a part of that and get to see it. It will be fun to watch them as they move into the next phases of their lives."
On The Future Of The Team
"Yeah, we have nine new players on our roster this year, that's half of our roster. We have a lot of underclassmen, so I always knew that there were going to be some ups and downs. We had some pretty high highs, and unfortunately, we had some pretty low lows. It's tough when you're a senior to be a team that is essentially rebuilding. We had to go through that a little bit this year. I think that we are going to come back next year and every one of our younger players is going to be better. That's what I have seen from players in this program throughout, who have stuck it out and get better every year. That is a testament to the work ethic and environment that is created by our players. I think that we are going to be a really good team next year. I think that we are going to start where we left off, which is a .500 team in the Pac-12 and we will get better as the season goes on. Two more wins and we are in the NCAA tournament right now. We played the seventh-toughest schedule in the country this year, so I think that if we take the right lessons from that, it is going to bode well for what we do next year.
Rachel Whipple
On Her Career At CU
"Yeah, today was definitely disappointing. But I think it was a very emotional day. We all started with Jesse when he first got hired and I think it was really special. I just want to say thank you. There were a lot of ups and downs the past four years and he never gave up on us. He always came to practice every day and wanted us to get better and helped us get better and I think that's why we three have been so successful, because of Jesse and our coaching staff."
On The Improvement Over The Season
"I think like Jesse said earlier in our huddle, we could have just crumbled and totally folded and given up on our season, but we didn't. I seriously think that we have grown so much since we stepped on the court in August. I think today has really shown us that our freshmen and sophomores and juniors really have grown. I'm so excited to come back next year and watch them and see how successful they are in the future."
Justine Spann
On Her Career At CU
"The ups and the downs that the three of us have had in our career here. Thank, you Jesse for sticking with us. I know we're a handful, especially me, but I couldn't be more proud of the three of our careers here and the teammates that we've had that have pushed us to the limit both on and off the court. Just the support that we've had from this university has been amazing and the opportunities that we had. I mean, there are no other people that I would want to finish off my career here with. I'm so proud to call them my teammates and my fellow upperclassmen. The leadership from both of them just drives me to come to practice every day, even those days you don't want to, it gets tougher. First half of Pac 12 was really tough for us, but they just made it better and I think with them pushing me that's why we were able to have a more successful second half and I'm just really proud of our careers that we've had here. Thank you, guys."
On The Improvement Over The Season
"Definitely, as well as the coaching staff not giving up on us. They never once said, you know what our seasons done. They always said, okay, second half, here we go. We always have like a halfway through season meeting, and Jesse said nothing's going to change from the coaching side. We're always going to have our scouting report ready. We're always going to prepare the same exact way. It's just our mindset that needed to change. We definitely grew as a team. I think that even the three of us, we came into this season better than we had the other three years. We continue to grow, and I think that was definitely the biggest thing, was growing alongside of those younger players as well."
Lillie Klemmer
On Her Career At CU
"Yeah, you guys really said it all. I'm just really grateful for this opportunity. Thank you, Jesse for allowing me to play in that last game. It meant a lot to be out there with you guys. Just thank you for all of our families who are here tonight and all of our teammates and our staff for really just wanting nothing but the best for us the past four years."
On Her Memories At CU
"Yeah, it's been a great experience. I wouldn't change anything. The ups and the downs. You know, a lot of people say this might not have been our best season, but this was my favorite season. I'm just really grateful to be here with you guys. We've grown so much, thank god."
Colorado (13-17, 5-15 Pac-12) finishes the season in 10th in the Pac-12 while Utah (22-9, 14-6 Pac-12) is all but certain to move on to the NCAA Tournament next week.
The match marked the end of an era with the first four-year class under Head Coach Jesse Mahoney as seniors Justine Spann, Rachel Whipple and Lillie Klemmer all made their final starts in a Buffs uniform. Spann led the Buffaloes with nine kills while Whipple had four digs and Klemmer had a kill and four blocks. The four seniors combined for the fourth-most wins against ranked opponents in school history.
The Buffaloes struggled on offense throughout the match as setter Jenna Ewert was the only player that hit greater than .083. The sophomore had four kills and a .429 hitting percentage with 22 assists and six digs. Meegan Hart had four kills in the middle but contributed greatly from the service line with three aces.
On the defensive side, Jill Schneggenburger led the team with eight digs while Spann collected six. Freshmen Elissa Alcantara and Sterling Parker each had a pair of blocks while Parker was second on the team with six kills.
Utah had a dominant match with 11.5 team blocks to hold the Buffs to a .051 team hitting percentage. Kenzie Koerber and Berkeley Oblad each had five blocks while Dani Drews was a force on offense with 21 kills and a .302 hitting percentage.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Utah opened the match on a 3-1 run before Colorado scored. The Utes put together another 3-1 scoring run to reach 6-3. Colorado responded and went on a 4-0 run before Utah scored at seven-all. Utah challenged a call at 9-8, but the call was upheld for a Buff's point. Both teams went back-and-forth until Utah scored back-to-back points at 11-9. The Utes went on a 4-1 scoring run that led to the media timeout at 15-12. Coming out of the break, Utah scored back-to-back points forcing Colorado to call a timeout at 17-12. Coming out of the timeout, Utah scored back-to-back points and pushed their run to five before Colorado scored at 19-13. Utah hit the 20-point mark with a six-point lead before Colorado scored at 21-14. The Buffs went on a 3-1 scoring run at 22-17 before the Utes scored at 23-17. Colorado went on a 4-1 scoring run at 23-20 forcing Utah into a timeout. At the timeout, Drews was leading all players with seven kills and hitting .429. Utah hit set-point at 24-20 monetarily, when Colorado challenged a net-fault, but the call was upheld. Utah won the set at 25-20. At the end of the first set, Utah hit .270 as a team, while Colorado hit .121. Drews led both teams with seven kills and hit .429 and Ka'aha'aina-Torres had 12 assists. For the Buffs, Ewert had seven assists and hit .750.
To start the second set, both teams traded points until Colorado challenged a call that was reversed, making the score 8-6 on back-to-back points for the Buffs. Utah responded with a 3-1 scoring run until Colorado scored at 11-10. The Buffs responded with their own scoring run, 4-1, before the Utes scored at 14-12. At the media timeout, Colorado led Utah 15-13. Drews led both teams with 10 kills and Ka'aha'aina-Torres led both teams with 18 assists. Coming out of the break, Utah went on a 4-1 run before Colorado scored at 17-all. The Utes scored back-to-back points to force a Colorado timeout at 19-17. Coming out of the break, Utah scored extending their scoring run 3-0. Utah hit the 20-point mark at 20-17. The Utes went on a 5-1 run at 22-18, forcing Colorado to call a timeout. Coming out of the break, Utah extended their scoring run until they hit set-point at 24-18. Utah won the set on an 8-1 run. Utah had seven blocks in the set, making their total nine for the match. Drews had 12 kills and Ka'aha'aina-Torres had 22 assists. As a team, Utah hit .386 and Colorado hit .273.
To start the third set, Utah went on a 3-1 run before Colorado scored. The Buffs went on a 3-0 scoring run as the score moved to four-all. Utah answered the Buffs scoring run with a 4-0 run of their own, forcing Colorado into their first timeout of the set at 7-4. At the timeout, Drews had 17 kills and Ka'aha'aina-Torres had 24 assists for the Utes. Coming out of the timeout, the Buffs went on a 3-1 run before the Utes scored at 9-7. Utah went on a 3-0 run forcing Colorado into their second timeout of the set at 11-7. Ka'aha'aina-Torres had 27 assists at the break. Coming out of the timeout, both teams went back-and-forth until the Utes went on a 4-1 scoring run before the Buffs scored at 16-11. Utah hit the 20-point mark with an eight-point lead, on a 4-0 scoring run, before CU scored at 20-13. Both teams traded points until Utah hit match-point at 24-16. The Buffs attempted to take the set with a late 3-1 scoring run, but Utah won the match at 25-19. Drews led both teams with 21 kills and Ka'aha'aina-Torres led both teams with 35 assists. For the Buffs, Ewert finished with 22 assists and hit .429. Utah hit .351 in the final set and .292 in the match.
QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Mahoney
On The Match
"It was a tough match to end our season, I don't think that this match was indicative of how we've been playing of late. With that being said, Utah is really good. That is as good of a team as we have seen all season. They blocked particularly well and defended us particularly well, we struggled to score. They are a seeded team in the NCAA tournament. With that being said, I am proud of what we have done over the last half, especially with how we started Pac-12. To finish 5-5 with the wins that we have had, I think it is a testament to how hard this team continued to work throughout the season. I think that it was directly related to the leadership that we have on this team with these three seniors. Unfortunately, our season is over, but I think that we have some building blocks and some things to be able to propel us next year. We are looking forward to getting in the gym when we can, we are taking a break, but we are looking forward to getting back into the gym and getting ready for next season."
On The Development Of The Seniors
"I think that Rachel mentioned that we were all freshmen together that first year. The first group that you have is always cool. I think that there are a lot of great things about my job, and one of the best parts of my job is getting to be around young people as they grow and mature and turn into young women. All three of them have had ups and downs on the court, and ups and downs in their lives, and yet all three of them have grown to be really special people. I have been lucky enough, my staff and I, to be a part of that and get to see it. It will be fun to watch them as they move into the next phases of their lives."
On The Future Of The Team
"Yeah, we have nine new players on our roster this year, that's half of our roster. We have a lot of underclassmen, so I always knew that there were going to be some ups and downs. We had some pretty high highs, and unfortunately, we had some pretty low lows. It's tough when you're a senior to be a team that is essentially rebuilding. We had to go through that a little bit this year. I think that we are going to come back next year and every one of our younger players is going to be better. That's what I have seen from players in this program throughout, who have stuck it out and get better every year. That is a testament to the work ethic and environment that is created by our players. I think that we are going to be a really good team next year. I think that we are going to start where we left off, which is a .500 team in the Pac-12 and we will get better as the season goes on. Two more wins and we are in the NCAA tournament right now. We played the seventh-toughest schedule in the country this year, so I think that if we take the right lessons from that, it is going to bode well for what we do next year.
Rachel Whipple
On Her Career At CU
"Yeah, today was definitely disappointing. But I think it was a very emotional day. We all started with Jesse when he first got hired and I think it was really special. I just want to say thank you. There were a lot of ups and downs the past four years and he never gave up on us. He always came to practice every day and wanted us to get better and helped us get better and I think that's why we three have been so successful, because of Jesse and our coaching staff."
On The Improvement Over The Season
"I think like Jesse said earlier in our huddle, we could have just crumbled and totally folded and given up on our season, but we didn't. I seriously think that we have grown so much since we stepped on the court in August. I think today has really shown us that our freshmen and sophomores and juniors really have grown. I'm so excited to come back next year and watch them and see how successful they are in the future."
Justine Spann
On Her Career At CU
"The ups and the downs that the three of us have had in our career here. Thank, you Jesse for sticking with us. I know we're a handful, especially me, but I couldn't be more proud of the three of our careers here and the teammates that we've had that have pushed us to the limit both on and off the court. Just the support that we've had from this university has been amazing and the opportunities that we had. I mean, there are no other people that I would want to finish off my career here with. I'm so proud to call them my teammates and my fellow upperclassmen. The leadership from both of them just drives me to come to practice every day, even those days you don't want to, it gets tougher. First half of Pac 12 was really tough for us, but they just made it better and I think with them pushing me that's why we were able to have a more successful second half and I'm just really proud of our careers that we've had here. Thank you, guys."
On The Improvement Over The Season
"Definitely, as well as the coaching staff not giving up on us. They never once said, you know what our seasons done. They always said, okay, second half, here we go. We always have like a halfway through season meeting, and Jesse said nothing's going to change from the coaching side. We're always going to have our scouting report ready. We're always going to prepare the same exact way. It's just our mindset that needed to change. We definitely grew as a team. I think that even the three of us, we came into this season better than we had the other three years. We continue to grow, and I think that was definitely the biggest thing, was growing alongside of those younger players as well."
Lillie Klemmer
On Her Career At CU
"Yeah, you guys really said it all. I'm just really grateful for this opportunity. Thank you, Jesse for allowing me to play in that last game. It meant a lot to be out there with you guys. Just thank you for all of our families who are here tonight and all of our teammates and our staff for really just wanting nothing but the best for us the past four years."
On Her Memories At CU
"Yeah, it's been a great experience. I wouldn't change anything. The ups and the downs. You know, a lot of people say this might not have been our best season, but this was my favorite season. I'm just really grateful to be here with you guys. We've grown so much, thank god."
Team Stats
Utah
CU
Kills
49
27
Errors
18
22
Attempts
106
98
Hitting %
.292
.051
Points
62.5
38
Assists
43
23
Aces
2
5
Blocks
11.5
6
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
9
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
4
Aces
3
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
OH
/ VolleyballS
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
MB
/ VolleyballRS/MB
/ Volleyball
OH
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
DS/L
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