Colorado Notches First Win With Sweep

BOULDER - Colorado women's volleyball showed up to play against Campbell with a 3-0 sweep (25-20, 25-11, 25-22) here Saturday evening, earning its first win of the 2023 season on day two of the Buffs Invitational.

After a tough match against UNLV yesterday, the Buffaloes (1-1) bounced back tonight with a victory over Campbell (0-2), holding the Camels to just a .076 hitting percentage throughout the match.

Maya Tabron and Lexi Hadrych had impressive offensive performances as they accounted for 23 of CU's 41 total kills. Tabron's 11 kills included three service aces while hitting a strong .474. She picked up seven digs and four blocks on the receiving end as well.

For the second straight match, middle blocker Skyy Howard led the team in blocks with nine total. Continuing on the defensive end, Lily Dwinell and Cayla Payne each had four blocks tonight.

Colorado will seek to hand North Texas its first loss of the season tomorrow at noon to close out the Buffs Invitational. The Mean Green will provide a good test for CU as they defeated Campbell in five sets yesterday and swept UNLV earlier today

HOW IT HAPPENED:

SET ONE:
After going down 3-1 early, Colorado went on a four-point scoring run to take a 5-3 lead. The match continued to be close as Campbell tied everything at 13 all with a service ace. CU went on another four-point scoring run, going up 17-13 and forcing a Camels timeout. The Buffs held that four-point lead to 22-18 before Campbell took its final timeout of the set. A kill by Tabron gave Colorado set point and then she added another kill to take the set 25-20.

SET TWO:
The Buffs started fast in the second set, scoring six unanswered points which led to a Campbell timeout. CU held a 10-1 lead following kills from Howard and Tabron. The Camels decided to take another timeout while trailing 14-2 after suffering a four-point run. Colorado continued to dominate as it led 24-9 after Payne's kill for set point. The Buffs won the set 25-11 following Howard's eighth block of the night.

SET THREE:
Both teams found themselves in a tight 9-9 battle early in the set. The tie lasted until CU took a two-point lead at 16-14. However, the Camels didn't go away as they took a 17-16 lead after three unanswered points from the Buffs. Colorado regained the lead at 20-18 to force a Campbell timeout. Shortly after the timeout, Howard and Dwinell combined for a block to reach match point for CU. Hadrych put the Camels away with her 12th kill of the night as the Buffs won the set 25-22.

QUOTES:

Head Coach Jesse Mahoney

Opening Statement
"Winning is fun, right? It's nice to get a good win under our belts after last night. I didn't feel like we passed particularly well last night. It was good to see us respond in our serve and pass today and in that match. We did a lot of really nice things and we held them to a low attacking percentage. We left some blocks on the table but still did a nice job there. This is the first opportunity we had to scout a team and then implement a little bit of gameplan, and I think we did a nice job there as well. We got some other players in and they played well. Avery Bolles won that second set for us at the start, which was exciting to see. Cayla got some opportunities as well. It was good to get some more people in today. Obviously tomorrow's match is going to be a tough one, and we have to get ready for that."

On North Texas
"They are good. They run a "6-2;" they're really balanced and a little undersized, but have really nice arms. They've got an opposite that we tried to recruit here. She's really really good. You saw what they did to UNLV today, they're going to be a test no doubt about it. I'm sure they're going to be up for that match, so we need to be up for it as well."

Middle Blocker Skyy Howard

On Blocking
"I'm definitely taking communication before the play. I think, especially today, we had an excellent idea about what was coming at us. So we were all communicating about what we saw, keeping our eye on our hitters, and being patient. I think it helps a lot.

On Starting Classes
"Oh, well, it's a little bit different for me in terms of where I went from undergrad to now. I do not have a huge class load, so I get to focus on volleyball a lot more this season than I have been able to in the past, so I'm excited for that. But the campus is flooding with people. I know that it's going to be a great start. It's going to be a lot of new faces and new energy on campus. I'm excited to see that."

Middle Blocker Cayla Payne

On Playing And Moving Forward
"It was an incredible feeling just being out there. The scouting report before really helped to get my head in the game. The older girls told me every time I came off the court what I needed to work on and how I could improve. Going forward, I'm taking the advice the coaches give me throughout the game and implementing it a little better."

On Starting Classes
"I've just met many new people since I've lived in the dorms. Then we had our freshman orientation on Friday, and it was just so crazy to see all the new freshmen class, and everyone I'm going to meet, and hopefully people coming to our games. I am excited to have everyone come on campus and meet new people."

Next Event

Team Stats

Lexi Hadrych

Maya Tabron

Lily Dwinell

Cayla Payne

Players Mentioned

Avery Bolles

Lily Dwinell

Lexi Hadrych

Skyy Howard

Cayla Payne

Maya Tabron

Players Mentioned

Avery Bolles

Lily Dwinell

Lexi Hadrych

Skyy Howard

Cayla Payne

Maya Tabron