CU Set for Pac-12/Big TEN Challenge

BOULDER – The University of Colorado women's volleyball team heads to Iowa City this weekend to compete in its fifth-straight Pac-12/BIG TEN Challenge at the University of Iowa.

Friday evening's match against host Iowa will begin at 6 p.m. (MT) and will be streamed on the BIG TEN network. CU takes on No.5 Illinois Saturday at 3 p.m. (MT).

Colorado (3-0) will have its hands full this weekend against Iowa (3-0) and No.5 Illinois (2-0). 16^th-ranked Washington will be the other Pac-12 school in the mix, as all four teams are either ranked or receiving votes entering the weekend.

The Buffs will look to keep their strong defense going and get the offense rolling this weekend against two tough opponents. Colorado averaged 2.8 blocks per set in the first three matches, controlling the net that led to its opponents hitting just .114. Colorado is hitting .199 through three matches but saw improvement against UCSB when the team hit .227 and senior Justine Spann had 21 kills.

Setter Jenna Ewert continues to control the offense efficiently with 9.9 assists per set and a team-high 34 digs. The team will look to get the middles going, as Danielle Price and Meegan Hart saw just 54 balls come their way in the three matches.

SCOUTING THE HAWKEYES

Iowa had a strong start to their season last weekend in Virginia. The Hawkeyes defeated Stony Brook in four sets Friday night, then began the morning with a sweep of No.22 Washington State. They closed out the James Madison Tournament with a sweep of the host team.

Iowa held WSU to just a .069 hitting percentage while hitting .290 themselves. Iowa dominated the kills, putting down 46 compared to the Cougars' 28. Pin hitters Meghan Buzzerio and Griere Hughes each had a dozen kills in the sweep. Hughes hit .320 while Buzzerio hit .242 in the process. Libero Halle Johnston also had 21 digs in the match.

The team is hitting .327 right now and holding opponents to just .090 hitting and less than 10 kills per set. The serving game will be important as Iowa has 15 aces to 30 errors while allowing 18 aces with opponents just giving up 20 errors. Iowa is also averaging more than two blocks per set.

SCOUTING THE ILLINI

No.5 Illinois enters this weekend up one spot after defeating No.19 Tennessee in back-to-back five set matches last weekend. The home-and-home set up saw Illinois enter Knoxville to start the season rally from down two sets to none and win the match in a long 23-21 fifth set. Tennessee took the first two sets 26-24, 25-23, then surrendered a 25-22 third set, 25-17 fourth and the final 23-21 fifth. The Illini hit .246 compared to .218 from Tennessee. Outside hitter Jacqueline Quade put up an astonishing 31 kills in the effort, hitting .247.

In the second installment, Tennessee looked to return the favor after falling down two sets to none. After securing sets three and four, Tennessee dropped the fifth 15-8. Quade was the star again, this time with 21 kills, nearly twice as many as any other player. Ashlyn Fleming had 12 kills and nine blocks in the match, while Illinois hit .210 and held Tennessee to .129.

HISTORY
-Colorado is 2-0 against Iowa, including last season's 3-1 win in Seattle. The Buffs have never played the Hawkeyes at home.

-Illinois and Colorado will play for the sixth-straight season, the longest running non-conference opponent for the Buffaloes. Colorado is 4-5 against the Illini all-time, including 2-2 in the past four times. Last season Illinois swept CU is Seattle, but the two seasons before that saw CU win a pair of five-set matches, one in Boulder and one on the road in Champaign.

-CU's 3-0 start is just the ninth time in school history the team has started a season with that mark.

-Colorado has a 4-2 record in the challenge under Mahoney.

-The Buffs are 0-9 against top-10 teams since 2016 but are 1-1 against Illinois when ranked in the top-10 in school history.

-The last top-10 win came against Stanford at home in 2015.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jenna Ewert

Meegan Hart

Danielle Price

Justine Spann