Colorado Hosts Buffs Invitational to Start Season

BOULDER – The University of Colorado women's volleyball team kicks off the 2019 season this weekend when it hosts the Buffs Invitational Friday and Saturday.

The tournament will play host to the University of Wyoming, Long Island University and UC-Santa Barbara. Action begins Friday with LIU and UC-Santa Barbara playing at 3 p.m., followed by Colorado's season opener against Wyoming at 6 p.m. Matches continue Saturday when Colorado take on Long Island at 10 a.m., followed by a UCSB against Wyoming match at noon. The tournament concludes action in Boulder Saturday at 7 p.m. when the Buffs take on UC-Santa Barbara.

The tournament will conclude Monday evening in Laramie when Long Island travels north to take on Wyoming.

The Buffaloes return to action after back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances under fourth-year head coach Jesse Mahoney. The team sports nine new faces this year, including seven freshmen. Five of those freshmen are slated to make their first appearance in a CU jersey, along with Iowa State transfer Meegan Hart.

With lots of new faces, the team will turn to the four returning starters from last season to help the transition. Justine Spann showed she is ready to take over the top outside hitting roll after putting up 17 kills last weekend in the Black and Gold scrimmage. She and Rachel Whipple are the two returning seniors with Whipple anchoring the defense at the libero position. A pair of sophomores, Jenna Ewert and Danielle Price, are the returners up from with Ewert set to run the offense all season and Price returning from putting down more than 100 blocks last season.

Friday's match will be the first test for the Buffs after dropping a five-set match against Wyoming last season in Laramie. The Cowgirls, a 20-11 team last season, are picked second in the Mountain West preseason poll but lost an exhibition against Division II Nebraska-Kearney last weekend in Cheyenne. The No.11-ranked Lopers nearly swept Wyo (25-23, 25-19, 23-25, 25-22) in front of a small crowd at Cheyenne East High School.

This will be the first time that Long Island University and CU meet up, The Sharks finished last season with a 15-9 overall record. CU and UC-Santa Barbara meet up for the first time since 1997, with each team having won once in the two matchups. UCSB finished last season with a 17-12 record and are tabbed third in the Big West preseason poll. They are led by three-time AVCA All-America honorable mention Lindsey Ruddins who enters her senior season with 1,531 kills and nearly five kills per set after back-to-back 500 kill seasons.

Friday's match against Wyoming will have a post-match autograph session with the team for fans. Fans arriving to the early match Saturday will receive donuts, while the first 500 fans that arrive for the 7 p.m. match against UC-Santa Barbara will receive a Get-To-Know booklet.

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Players Mentioned

Jenna Ewert

Meegan Hart

Danielle Price

Justine Spann

Rachel Whipple