Buffaloes Ride Momentum to Los Angeles

Thursday, November 7

Los Angeles, Calif.

8:00 PM

Colorado

UCLA

Photo by: Tony Harman

November 05, 2019 | Volleyball

By: Shaun Wicen, Assistant SID

BOULDER – The University of Colorado women's volleyball team rides a weekend sweep of the two Arizona teams into Los Angeles this week for a pair of matches against No.23-ranked UCLA and Southern Cal.

The Buffaloes (10-12, 2-10 Pac-12) begin the daunting task of trying to finish the season eligible for postseason play at .500. Things start off with the first of six possible ranked matches to close out the season when the team heads into Pauley Pavilion to take on UCLA (13-8, 8-4 Pac-12) Thursday evening at 8 p.m. MST. Colorado clinched a postseason bid with a sweep of the Bruins in Westwood last year and are hoping to spark a run there. After that, the team heads to Pasadena Saturday evening at 8 p.m. MST to take on the Women of Troy (13-9, 7-5 Pac-12) where the Buffs have never won in eight attempts.

Despite the previous 10-match losing streak, the Buffs are ranked 60th in RPI. With the current ranking, the team still has a shot at postseason play but needs to be at a .500 winning percentage at the minimum to qualify. With four home matches and four road matches, the Buffs need at least one road win in the next two weeks to have a chance to hit .500.

The past weekend Colorado saw a resurgent squad take care of business against Arizona in five sets and sweep Arizona State. The match against Arizona could've easily ended in a sweep but a five-point run in the third set took the 23-20 lead CU had built and stole the opportunity. Despite that, a career-night from Elissa Alcantara took care of the Wildcats after she put up 22 kills and hit greater than .400. Against the Sun Devils, it was a strong middle performance from Meegan Hart that had 11 kills and hit .688 that led the Buffs to victory.

The Buffaloes are led by senior Justine Spann who is fifth in the conference in kills at 3.61 per set in Pac-12 play. She is also tied for seventh in aces and fifth in points at more than four per set. Hart's recent performance broke her through the top-10 in conference play with a .327 hitting percentage, good for ninth. Setter Jenna Ewert is seventh in assists at 9.57 per set, but the largest leader for CU has been senior libero Rachel Whipple who is third in the conference with 4.48 digs per set.

SCOUTING THE BRUINS
After the first CU vs. UCLA matchup, the Bruins have had a streaky up-and-down schedule at best. They lost to Oregon in a sweep in Eugene and allowed Oregon State to force a five-set match after UCLA took the first two and barely won the fifth 16-14. Something clicked at home as the team swept Stanford and handled Cal in four sets, but after sweeping Washington State on the road, the Bruins were swept by Washington in a performance that included two 25-14 set losses.

Mac May continues to be a problem for Pac-12 opponents at 4.67 kills per set and a .261 hitting percentage. She will be the main focus for the Buffs but Savvy Simo is the second performer to watch at nearly three kills per set. UCLA's 6-2 system spreads the ball around well on defense with three players with 43 or more blocks and four with 100 digs or more. May is second in the conference in kills per set at 4.71 in Pac-12 play while Emily Ryan has the highest hitting percentage at .400.

SCOUTING THE TROJANS
The Trojans have suffered three ranked losses since escaping Boulder, five-set losses to Utah and Stanford and a four-set loss at Washington State. The team does have a five-set win over Washington and a four-set over Cal under their belt.

USC is led by Khalia Lanier who leads Pac-12 play with 4.92 kills per set. Jasmine Gross is another factor with a .365 hitting percentage and second in the conference with 1.42 blocks per set. The Buffs will have to fight through the blocks but if they can they have a good chance at a win with USC 10th in the conference at under 14 digs per set.