Buffaloes Upset No.5 Illinois in Sweep

IOWA CITY – Colorado women's volleyball team made history today by sweeping No.5-ranked Illinois, 3-0 (30-28, 25-19, 25-20), the first top-10 victory under head coach Jesse Mahoney and just the second-ever top-five upset not at home and second-ever sweep of a top-five opponent.

Colorado remains perfect with a 5-0 record for just the third time in school history after sweeping the Illini (2-2) who lost to No.16 Washington in five the night before. CU is now 15-1 in sets, a mark matched only by the 2008 squad that started the season 6-0 and were 18-1 in set wins to begin the season.

The Buffs were an efficient hitting machine all weekend, cumulating in a .462 team hitting percentage against the Illini, the highest since 2014 when the team hit .549 against Robert Morris and just the fifth time hitting greater than .400 in the past decade. Colorado hit .542 in the final set without an error.

CU only had one unforced hitting error during the match. The team only committed eight total errors, but seven of those came from being blocked.

Justine Spann led the Buffs with 16 kills and a career-high .560 hitting percentage. She was joined by freshman Jill Schneggenburger who had 12 kills with a .611 hitting percentage. Sterling Parker added in six kills and a .364 percentage. CU had five of its six hit .300 or better.

Dishing out with near perfection today was sophomore setter Jenna Ewert with 31 assists. She led the team for the fourth-straight match in digs with six.

Defensively, CU had six recorded blocks and numerous more pressured that forced attack errors on Illinois. Meegan Hart was the anchor of the defense with five recorded block assists. She has recorded five blocks in the past three matches, averaging 1.37 blocks per set this season.

The biggest differences between the two teams were the serving game and errors in the third set. Illinois hit .467 and .417 in the first two sets, respectfully, but CU held them to just a .100 hitting percentage in the third. Both teams had seven aces during the match, but Illinois committed 12 service errors compared to CU's six.

Mahoney is now 6-2 in the Pac-12/BIG TEN Challenge. This was his first top-five win and he now has coached two of the three best starts in school history. This is the first top-five victory not at home since the 1997 team defeating Nebraska in Lincoln in five. That team also had the only top-five sweep until today, defeating the same Husker team 20 days later at home.

Colorado has a short week to prepare for the first home-and-home double header with Colorado State this Thursday and Friday.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Colorado got off to a hot start with a pair of Parker kills and a Perry ace to give them a 4-1 lead. Colorado continued to push the lead with a nearly perfect hitting percentage, closing out six kills on seven swings without an error for an 11-5 lead, forcing an Illini timeout. The Buffs continued to hit to a 14-6 lead, hitting .700 with no errors. The lead extended to 18-10 while CU still was errorless and had three blocks and a pair of aces. CU reached the 20-point mark with a six point lead, still hitting more than .750. CU committed its first error finally on an overpass and dump by Hart but continued to roll with a 21-16 lead. Illinois continued to push to a 21-18 game, forcing a CU timeout. Illinois continued a 5-0 run, tying the match at 21 and forcing another CU timeout. Illinois got its first lead at 23-22. A Parker kill tied things up at 23 all, but Illinois' Quade forced set point the next rally. The All-American had a service error, and CU capitalized with a Spann kill to retake the lead. Illinois tied it up, but another service error gave CU a second set point. After a sideout, another service error gave CU its fourth set point. A service ace from Hart off the tape sealed the win for Colorado, 30-28. The Buffs hit .462 in the set, with Spann, Parker and Schneggenburger hitting .570 or better with four kills.

Colorado continued to play well, taking the first four points before Illini got a chance. CU rolled to a 7-1 lead, but Illinois strung together three points to bring it to 7-4 before CU had a sideout. Perry put down her third ace as Illinois took a timeout trailing 10-4. Colorado pushed to a 13-8 lead behind Spann and Schneggenburger, each with seven kills and hitting greater than .545. Colorado's lead held to 16-12. CU hit the 20-point mark with a four-point lead while hitting .450 and holding Illinois to just .083. Coach Mahoney won his third challenge of the tournament to give CU a 21-16 lead. CU put down a 5-0 run to reach set point, sealing the 2-0 lead at 25-19.

The third set started with a 3-1 Buffalo lead. Illinois battled, but CU held on to an 8-5 lead. Zoe Neverdowski put down CU's sixth ace of the match for a 13-8 lead. Illinois put down a 5-1 run, closing the gap to one and forcing CU into a timeout. Spann continued to help CU hold the lead, eclipsing five kills per set with her 16^th at 16-14. Colorado once again was errorless, hitting .643 through a 17-16 lead. A three-point run gave CU a 19-16 lead after a Hart and Parker block, forcing Illinois into a timeout. The Buffs hit the 20-point mark up three. After a long challenge, Schneggenburger gave CU a 22-18 lead, then followed it up with another kill and ace to set CU up with match point. Spann finished the set off two plays later.

QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Mahoney
On the match
Really fun, exciting match. I'm really proud of the growth of this team in a short amount of time. That's a team that was just in the Final Four that has a ton of talent on it. I thought that we did a really nice job controlling the match early and we withstood runs in set one, set two, set three and found a way to separate at the end. I thought our two outside hitters were fantastic. Jenna did a fantastic job spreading the ball around. Really a total team effort and we are looking forward to celebrating this for a day then we have some tough matches coming up, that's the way it is.

On hitting efficiency
Those are some pretty gaudy numbers (we put up), especially against a really good team and a really good blocking team. We are going to be successful this year is our outsides can be that efficient. That being said, that comes from good passing, good defense and really good setting so it's a team effort to get those two to put up those type of numbers.

On passing/defense
Defensively, Lee runs our defensive game plan. I thought he put the block in the right spots tonight and I thought defensively we did a very nice job. Behind it they've got an All-American attacker that was pretty tough to slow down but we were able to do it and create some separation.

On 15-1 in sets
Those type of things are fun to look at and think about but we are worried about our growth and our process and we just want to get better every practice and match. It's fun to see that some of the younger players out there are doing that and our veterans are stepping up as well. Again, total team effort and we will celebrate it for a day then we are back in the gym.

Outside hitter Justine Spann
On 5-0 start and four sweeps
It definitely helps being the underdog, being the team that people don't expect to win games like this. I absolutely love the pressure, that's the best part about being the underdog. Going on the road, our team is very young and it's really difficult for us sometimes as far as experience goes, but honestly we are playing like veterans right now and I couldn't be more proud of this team. Super excited to see how the rest of the season goes, but we can't bank on these wins, we need to continue to win as preseason and conference play goes on.

On her play
I'm shocked that I hit that well. I'm super proud of myself but I couldn't have done that without my teammates because at the end of the day this is a team sport and I couldn't hit that well without the rest of the team executing the game plan as well as we did.

Outside hitter Jill Schneggenburger
On being a part of this run
It's great being a part of this run and being a part of this team in general. They push me in a positive way, even if I'm down or not doing as well as I could they always make sure I am up in spirits. Being a part of this positive environment has made this enjoyable to be a part of this run.

On team hitting improvements
We knew what to work on. That was the majority of our focus in practice. Knowing what we had to work on, hitting high off the top of hands, it really helped.

Next Event

Team Stats

Justine Spann

Jill Schneggenburger

Sterling Parker

Meegan Hart

Players Mentioned

Jenna Ewert

Meegan Hart

Zoe Neverdowski

Sterling Parker

Jill Schneggenburger

Justine Spann

Players Mentioned

Jenna Ewert

Meegan Hart

Zoe Neverdowski

Sterling Parker

Jill Schneggenburger

Justine Spann