Colorado Set For Black and Gold Scrimmage

BOULDER – The University of Colorado women's volleyball team will take to the court for the first time this season for the annual Black and Gold intra-squad scrimmage this Saturday at 3 p.m.

The Buffaloes will play four sets against one another, mixing up lineups throughout the competition in preparation for the season opener against Wyoming.

This will be the first look in a Colorado uniform at the CU Events Center for eight Buffaloes, seven of which are freshmen. Colorado added nine new student-athletes since last fall, including the Southern Conference Player of the Year Leah Clayton who transferred in the spring and will be in her second match on the Events Center floor for CU.

In addition to Clayton, CU added Iowa State transfer Meegan Hart to the lineup at middle blocker. The redshirt sophomore was a top-100 recruit out of Illinois in 2017 but saw limited action for the Cyclones after suffering injuries in her first two seasons.

Colorado put together a top-10 recruiting class this past season, including three freshmen ranked in the top-100 in the nation. Outside Jill Schneggenburger leads the group as a six-rotation outside hitter and is joined by outside Elissa Alcantara and middle Alexia Kuehl. Alcantara is one of the most dynamic hitters in the gym for the Buffaloes, touching 10-foot, 5-inches with a powerful swing. Kuehl is a 6-6 middle that will redshirt this season but showed glimpses of high-level play in limited action in China this summer.

The Buffaloes will have numerous looks, as just four starters return from last season and six players that made starts throughout the 2018 campaign. Pac-12 All-Freshmen selection Jenna Ewert will take over the setter roll this season as former All-American Brynna DeLuzio is redshirting the season with injury. She will have Justine Spann on the outside from last season as well as Danielle Price in the middle. Lillie Klemmer and Emily DeMure, both of which worked on the right side last season as well as Klemmer in the middle, round out the returning offensive options for the Buffs. Senior libero Rachel Whipple anchors the defense.

The outside and right side positions will have the most fluidity Saturday with seven Buffaloes set to get looks from the pins. Spann will lead the group with DeMure and Klemmer as the veteran group, while the freshmen will include Sterling Parker, Alcantara, Schneggenburger and Kelley Levaggi.

With the Buffaloes running a 5-1 system, Colorado will have room to use and substitute numerous defensive specialists and serving pieces into matches this season. This plays well into the CU roster as there are five backrow players suiting up this season. Joining Whipple in the backrow will be sophomores Zoe Neverdowski and Taylor deProsse, as well as freshmen Katie Lougeay and Savannah Perry. All four defensive specialist options will get good looks Saturday.

The event is free to the public and doors will open at 2:30 p.m. After the scrimmage there will be a quick meet and greet with the team on the court, open to the public.

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Players Mentioned

Elissa Alcantara

Leah Clayton

Brynna DeLuzio

Emily DeMure

Taylor deProsse

Jenna Ewert

Meegan Hart

Lillie Klemmer

Alexia Kuehl

Kelley Levaggi

Katie Lougeay

Zoe Neverdowski

Sterling Parker

Savannah Perry

Danielle Price

Jill Schneggenburger

Justine Spann

Rachel Whipple