Buffs Fall in Five in Golden Spike Inaugural Match

Friday, September 13

Boulder, Colo.

6:00 PM

Colorado

5-2

Colorado State

7-1

Colorado State

Colorado

Photo by: Tony Harman

September 13, 2019 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Shaun Wicen, Assistant SID

BOULDER – The University of Colorado women's volleyball team lost a close 3-2 (11-25, 25-23, 25-19, 20-25, 15-7) five-set match against in-state rivals Colorado State Friday evening in the inaugural Golden Spike Trophy match.

No.19 Colorado (5-2) made solid adjustments after being swept by the Rams (7-1) last night but couldn't overcome timely runs by CSU to take the win. The match was a heavy defensive battle with CSU leading CU with 14 blocks compared to 12. Both teams had strong hitting sets but overall hit .176 for CSU and .172 for the Buffs.

Colorado was led by freshman Jill Schneggenburger's 10 kills and .223 hitting percentage. Justine Spann and Sterling Parker each added nine kills but hit .030 and .160, respectfully. Jenna Ewert had 32 assists in the match.

The Buffaloes got the middles going for as Danielle Price and Meegan Hart combined for 15 kills on 33 attempts, led by Price's seven. Price and Parker each had five blocks to lead the team while Hart added four. Ewert and Spann each had three.

In the backrow, libero Rachel Whipple had 14 digs. Ewert, Spann and Schneggenburger each chipped in eight.

Colorado dominated the first set, hitting .278 and putting down five blocks to hold CSU to a -.115 hitting percentage. CSU turned the next two sets around with a .297 and .212 hitting percentage, respectfully. In the fourth set CU found its stride again defensively, holding Colorado State to .062 hitting while putting out a .241 effort themselves. A large 7-0 run began the fifth set and CU was unable to battle back, putting down only two kills as they hit -.250. CSU had nine kills and only a single error for a .571 hitting percentage to close out the match.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Colorado put down a quick block to open things up, then followed it up with a service ace to take a 3-1 lead. The Buffs rolled to a 10-4 lead behind three strong blocks. The block party continued as CU had four team blocks by 11-4, including numerous solo blocks. CSU called first timeout trailing 12-5 and hitting -.143. Colorado continued to push to a 10-point lead at 18-8, forcing CSU into another timeout. CU hit set point at 24-11, cruising with five team blocks while CSU hit -.115 with four service errors, including one to end the set.

CSU turned things around quickly in the second set, starting off with the first seven points of the set, including four kills on five swings, forcing a CU timeout. Colorado began to string points together behind a pair of quick kills from Parker and Hart, but CSU kept siding out with a 9-2 lead. Schneggenburger began to heat up with four kills and a .375 hitting percentage as CU clawed back to an 11-6 match. After CU closed it to a four-point set, CSU put down a quick run to extend to 16-11. Colorado put down a three-point run to force a CSU timeout at 17-14. CU put down back-to-back blocks to close the set to just a point. CSU put together a pair to push back the lead to 19-16. An overpass led to a Danielle Price put down that tied up the match at 19 all. The teams traded points and CSU got a strong block to move to 22-20, but put the ball out on the serve to give the Buffs the serve. The Rams got to set point at 24-21, forcing a CU timeout. Schneggenburger turned the serve back to CU with her sixth kill and then proceeded to serve for the Buffaloes as Hart turned back another set point to move within one and force a CSU timeout. The break worked, as CSU took the set 25-23. CSU hit .297 in the set, while CU continued to put down everything with nine total blocks.

The Buffs jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead with three straight kills from Parker and Spann, which was followed up by a Schneggenburger ace. They kept pushing to a 6-0 lead, forcing a CSU timeout. The run continued one more play before service error gave CSU its first point of the set, 7-1. Colorado held an 11-7 lead with CSU hitting -.200 and CU hitting .257. CSU pulled back to within one after a pair of blocks and a three-point run, forcing a Buff timeout. Colorado State tied it up one play later and took the lead on an ace at 12-11. The teams battled back and forth to a 13 all tie. CU retook the lead at 16-15, but CSU coach challenged a touch on the play successfully to turn the lead to CSU. The Rams held the one point lead until pushing it to 20-18, forcing a CU timeout. CSU pushed the lead to 22-18, forcing CU into a 6-2 momentarily with Emily DeMure and Elissa Alcantara. CSU reached set point at 24-19, sealing the win on a pair of consecutive aces.

CU came out swinging with a quick 4-2 lead, extending it with a Perry ace. CSU cut the lead to just one with CU leading 7-6, tying it the next play. Colorado put down back-to-back Parker and Hart blocks to force CSU into a timeout trailing 12-9. The Buffs pushed the lead to four with the score 16-12, following it up with another block and a CSU timeout at 17-12. CU hit the 20-point mark at 20-14. Colorado held a seven-point lead at 23-16, holding the Rams to .000 hitting and pushing to set-point on the next play. CSU fought with through four set points before the Buffs ended the set with a service error, 25-20.

Heading into the fifth set, both teams had 12 blocks and were hitting under .200. The Rams came out with two quick kills, followed by an attack error challenge by Mahoney that confirmed a 3-0 CSU lead. Another Runnels kills kept the streak going and extending to six straight before a CU timeout. The Buffs earned their first point on a CSU service error, but the Rams switched it quickly to lead 7-2 after another service error. The bleeding continued to 10-2, forcing CU into its final timeout of the match. An attack error gave CU life, but CSU blocked another attack to lead 11-3. CU finally put together a pair of points after Elissa Alcantara subbed in for a kill, then an attack error put CSU up 12-6 with a challenge coming from the Rams. After the review went CU's way, the Rams pushed to a 13-6 lead off a kill from the middle. CSU hit match-point at 14-7, finishing it off with a block at 15-7.

QUOTES
Head Coach Mahoney
On The Match
"First off, hats off to Colorado State. I think we are a really good volleyball team. I think it's hard to beat us twice in a row. They did it. Secondly, hats off to our players. Last night was a really rough match for us. We struggled to respond to the pressure Colorado State put us in last night. I thought we responded really well today. I thought we played really good volleyball for long stretches. Unfortunately, we had multiple point runs where we just couldn't get out of certain rotations. Every set that we lost, we gave up runs of 6 or 7 points. In set 5 we lost the momentum early. We had a couple of gifts right in our lap that we kicked around. We got behind and got a little tentative at the end. We are looking for growth and improvement and I think we did that tonight. I want to also thank our fans, especially the 700 students that came out. It was one of the best crowds here and we appreciate it."

On Bouncing Back From Last Night
"Moral victories suck, but this was a textbook moral victory I suppose. I thought we responded well. We had a great serve and pass today. Our kids were upbeat. We played hard and disciplined. We did a lot of things that are going to help us win matches in the long term, but it didn't help us tonight. That was a really good team. I thought this was a coin flip match and it came up the other way."

Senior Libero Rachel Whipple
On Bouncing Back From Last Night
"We came together as a team and recognized how we played last night wasn't anywhere near our potential. We made sure we created a positive environment after that match, into today. We really energized ourselves in the locker room and throughout our warmup. We told ourselves to believe in each other and that we are a good team."

Sophomore Setter Jenna Ewert
On Bouncing Back From Last Night
"We came together. Last night we were in the locker room and knew we needed to shake it off. It was in the past. They demolished us so we had to let it go as soon as possible. We had to come back together and get our morale back. I think we did that really well, but I think there are still certain things we need to work on, especially just coming together as a team and getting used to each other."

On Getting The Middles Going
"I have been worried about that ever since we started our first game. Not just the middles not being confident, but I wasn't confident in setting them. That made us outside heavy in the beginning. If I can't hear them, I can't be confident in setting them. It has been a really big grind for us in the last couple of weeks to try to get them up. Last weekend we did really well not putting a lot of pressure on them. They came up with some key plays last weekend, but we can't just have key plays and get away with it. They have to be a big part of our offense. This week, especially after last night, was a real eye opener for me and the middles. We were talking about how we had to get the middles going and block the hole. Last night really helped push us forward."