Serving Battles Favors Minzu in CU Loss

BEIJING – Despite a nearly 20-20 performance from Justine Spann, the University of Colorado women's volleyball team fell to Minzu University three sets to one (32-34, 20-25, 22-25, 23-25) Wednesday for the final match in China.

Spann had a huge performance from the opening set on with 24 total kills, a .314 hitting percentage and 18 digs. Elissa Alcantara also had an outstanding day hitting with a team-high .474 hitting percentage with nine errorless kills.

The serve game ended up being the largest difference in the match as Minzu put down an outstanding 20 aces and CU added the troubles with a dozen service errors. Without the service differences the stats heavily favor Colorado who hit .290 as a team and held their opponent to just .194. CU also had a dozen blocks compared to just three.

Colorado started off hot with a five-point run to a 5-1 lead. Minzu responded with a three-point run of their own, but a Spann kill led to a sideout and Ewert put down a pair of aces to force a timeout at 9-5. Minzu responded with a four-point run to bring the score within one at 12-11, but Spann responded with four kills in a row. Minzu slowly clawed back, bringing the set once again to a one-point affair that forced a CU timeout. Out of the break a Meegan Hart kill was overturned and Minzu turned it into their first lead at 20-19. Emily DeMure and Spann put down a pair of kills each to retake the lead to 23-21, forcing a Minzu timeout. The match went back and forth with numerous set-points for both squads, but a timely service error gave CU a one-point lead at 33-32 and Clayton finished it off on the next rally.

Spann was unstoppable in the first set, putting down 13 kills with a .417 hitting percentage. Colorado had 25 assists in the set, led by Jenna Ewert's 15 and two aces.

The second set started off rough for the Buffs after Minzu put down three-straight aces and jumped to a quick 4-0 lead. After the score pushed to 5-1 CU called its first timeout. Minzu continued to push with five aces in their first 10 points to a 10-3 lead. Colorado went on a four-point run to bring it to 10-7, and slowly clawed back with two runs of three to force a timeout trailing 16-14. CU couldn't overcome the deficit, falling 25-20.

The team allowed nine aces in the set, including five in the direction of Elissa Alcantara as the team tried to slow her down. She finished the set with four kills, while Spann added five more to bring her match total to 18. The hitting was on for CU as the team hit .433 in the set with 14 kills and just one error.

The teams traded leads early in the third set until Minzu rallied off seven points that included three-straight aces. Colorado put down a three-point run to cut the lead in half, but Minzu pushed again to a 15-9 lead. Once again CU put together a three-point run to cut the lead to three, forcing Minzu into a timeout. Alexia Kuehl put down a kill and back-to-back kills, leading to just a two-point set at 18-16. That sparked a run as CU closed to a one-point game at 23-22, forcing Minzu into another timeout. Minzu put down a kill for set-point and finished it off with an ace one play later.

The Buffs let up two points before head coach Jesse Mahoney called a quick timeout to reset his group in the fourth set. It wasn't long before the last timeout was called when Minzu took an 8-2 lead with another pair of aces in there. Colorado put together a run of three, then Spann put down back-to-back kills and an ace to start a four-point CU run that forced a Minzu timeout at 13-12. Colorado tied it up momentarily at 15 all, but Minzu pushed to a 21-17 lead. Colorado went on a 5-1 run to tie up the set at 22 apiece, forcing Minzu into a timeout. A kill and ace gave Minzu match-point, and the team finished it off two plays later at 25-23.

Players Mentioned

Elissa Alcantara

Emily DeMure

Jenna Ewert

Meegan Hart

Alexia Kuehl

Justine Spann

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