Sunday, August 27
Boulder, Colo.
12:00 PM
Colorado
1-1,0-0
3
vs
0
North Texas
2-0,0-0
1
2
3
F
North Texas
18
23
19
0
Colorado
25
25
25
3
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Colorado Takes Buffs Invitational Title
August 27, 2023 | Volleyball
Hadrych Earns All-Tournament MVP
BOULDER - After dropping its first match of the season on Friday, the Colorado women's volleyball team didn't lose a single set the rest of the weekend to bring home the Buffs Invitational title. The Buffaloes took care of business against North Texas sweeping the Mean Green 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-19) here Sunday afternoon.
North Texas (2-1) came into the match today without a loss on its record, but Colorado (2-1) changed that behind a strong offensive performance. Three Buffaloes hit over .400 in the match while CU outhit the Mean Green .417 to .297.
Taylor Simpson's delivery was on point today as she racked up a total of 42 assists to average 14.0 per set. Simpson recorded 103 assists while committing just three errors over the course of the weekend as she earned Buffs Invitational All-Tournament team honors.
Lexi Hadrych, Alexia Kuehl and Maya Tabron all landed in the double digit column for kills this afternoon. Hadrych, the tournament's Most Valuable Player, led all players with 15 kills. Kuehl's 10 kills came with a .562 hitting percentage while Tabron's 10 kills came with a .429 attack percentage. There wasn't much of a defensive presence at the net here today as both teams combined for just three blocks.
In each set, the Buffaloes were able to shut down North Texas when short scoring runs made by the Mean Green threatened a comeback. Timeouts called by head coach Jesse Mahoney helped Colorado to settle down and regroup when it needed it most.
Colorado women's volleyball will travel to Greeley to play its first away game of the season against the Northern Colorado Bears on Thursday, August 31st at 6 p.m. MT.
Buffs Invitational All-Tournament Team
Isabel Martin - UNLV
McKenna Sciacca - Campbell
Treysunna Rusch, Aryn Johnson - North Texas
Taylor Simpson, Skyy Howard - Colorado
Buffs Invitational Tournament MVP
Lexi Hadrych - Colorado
HOW IT HAPPENED:
SET ONE:
After a three-point scoring run, North Texas took a 7-2 lead forcing an early Colorado timeout. Out of the timeout, CU was able to come within two at 11-9 following a service ace from Avery Bolles. Later on, a kill from Hadrych gave the Buffs their first lead of the set at 17-16. Hadrych picked up another kill to put Colorado up 18-16 which led to a North Texas timeout. CU cruised to a 21-16 lead after scoring seven unanswered points resulting in another timeout by the Mean Green. Howard's second kill of the day gave Colorado set point before the Buffs took the first set 25-18 on a North Texas service error.
SET TWO:
An overturned call favored the Buffs as they found themselves in a 5-5 tie. The call began Colorado's five-point scoring run. As a result, North Texas called its first timeout of the set while trailing 9-5. Later in the set, CU led by six shortly before the Mean Green came within two at 19-17 following a kill. Back-to-back kills by Rush closed the deficit to just one at 20-19 and led to a Buffs timeout. After the break, Colorado went on a three-point scoring run to reach set point. North Texas responded with a three-point scoring run of its own as the Buffs called a timeout while leading 24-23. CU was able to win the set 25-23 following a Mean Green attack error.
SET THREE:
Colorado took a 10-8 lead in the third set after Kuehl's eighth kill while hitting a solid .538. Following two North Texas errors, CU extended its lead to five at 16-11. The Mean Green decided to take their first timeout of the set while trailing 19-13. Both teams kept trading points before North Texas put together a four-point scoring run forcing a Buffs timeout. Colorado led 21-18 during the timeout. After the break, Hadrych picked up her 15th kill to give CU match point. The Buffs won the set 25-19 after Howard's kill handed North Texas its first loss of the season.
QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Mahoney
Opening Statement
"That is a really good team. They're going to do a really nice job in their conference. They're well coached and they've got really nice athletes. I was happiest with the fact that I didn't feel like we played well Friday, but we got better Saturday, and this was our best match of the year. We're trending in the right direction, making little adjustments and dialing in. We hit .417 against a really good team. That says a lot, but we let them hit around .280, so we got to get a little bit better defensively. I thought we left a lot of blocks on the table, as always, but it was an impressive offensive performance by this team, so I'm excited for it."
On What's Next
"Mondays are good days because we get to rest and recover, especially after playing three matches. We'll get some good film study. This team prides itself on that, and we'll really know what we're up against on Thursday. We still have some battles at some positions. We still have to compete on Tuesday and Wednesday. I think more than anything, we're still getting comfortable with what we do and how we do it. When we do that, we can be really good."
Middle Blocker Alexia Kuehl
On Adjustments
"I think as the weekend went on we honed in more on energy, focusing on that and communicating more. We really tried to focus on that as a team and I think that helped us progress to the weekend."
Outside Hitter Maya Tabron
On Adjustments
"I would say the biggest thing is just nerves.. We hadn't really played much together coming out to that big crowd we had [on Friday]. We were really able to turn it around which was the good part, but Friday was just kind of getting those jitters out. We just have to keep on moving on and pushing, working harder every single day. I think we learned a lot on Friday, and we just need to continue to learn from it."
On What's Next
"It's going be a pretty quick turnaround. We're really going to have to use the time and the reps that we get on Tuesday and Wednesday to prep. It's just going to be a mindset of recovery and just being ready to go on Thursday."
North Texas (2-1) came into the match today without a loss on its record, but Colorado (2-1) changed that behind a strong offensive performance. Three Buffaloes hit over .400 in the match while CU outhit the Mean Green .417 to .297.
Taylor Simpson's delivery was on point today as she racked up a total of 42 assists to average 14.0 per set. Simpson recorded 103 assists while committing just three errors over the course of the weekend as she earned Buffs Invitational All-Tournament team honors.
Lexi Hadrych, Alexia Kuehl and Maya Tabron all landed in the double digit column for kills this afternoon. Hadrych, the tournament's Most Valuable Player, led all players with 15 kills. Kuehl's 10 kills came with a .562 hitting percentage while Tabron's 10 kills came with a .429 attack percentage. There wasn't much of a defensive presence at the net here today as both teams combined for just three blocks.
In each set, the Buffaloes were able to shut down North Texas when short scoring runs made by the Mean Green threatened a comeback. Timeouts called by head coach Jesse Mahoney helped Colorado to settle down and regroup when it needed it most.
Colorado women's volleyball will travel to Greeley to play its first away game of the season against the Northern Colorado Bears on Thursday, August 31st at 6 p.m. MT.
Buffs Invitational All-Tournament Team
Isabel Martin - UNLV
McKenna Sciacca - Campbell
Treysunna Rusch, Aryn Johnson - North Texas
Taylor Simpson, Skyy Howard - Colorado
Buffs Invitational Tournament MVP
Lexi Hadrych - Colorado
HOW IT HAPPENED:
SET ONE:
After a three-point scoring run, North Texas took a 7-2 lead forcing an early Colorado timeout. Out of the timeout, CU was able to come within two at 11-9 following a service ace from Avery Bolles. Later on, a kill from Hadrych gave the Buffs their first lead of the set at 17-16. Hadrych picked up another kill to put Colorado up 18-16 which led to a North Texas timeout. CU cruised to a 21-16 lead after scoring seven unanswered points resulting in another timeout by the Mean Green. Howard's second kill of the day gave Colorado set point before the Buffs took the first set 25-18 on a North Texas service error.
SET TWO:
An overturned call favored the Buffs as they found themselves in a 5-5 tie. The call began Colorado's five-point scoring run. As a result, North Texas called its first timeout of the set while trailing 9-5. Later in the set, CU led by six shortly before the Mean Green came within two at 19-17 following a kill. Back-to-back kills by Rush closed the deficit to just one at 20-19 and led to a Buffs timeout. After the break, Colorado went on a three-point scoring run to reach set point. North Texas responded with a three-point scoring run of its own as the Buffs called a timeout while leading 24-23. CU was able to win the set 25-23 following a Mean Green attack error.
SET THREE:
Colorado took a 10-8 lead in the third set after Kuehl's eighth kill while hitting a solid .538. Following two North Texas errors, CU extended its lead to five at 16-11. The Mean Green decided to take their first timeout of the set while trailing 19-13. Both teams kept trading points before North Texas put together a four-point scoring run forcing a Buffs timeout. Colorado led 21-18 during the timeout. After the break, Hadrych picked up her 15th kill to give CU match point. The Buffs won the set 25-19 after Howard's kill handed North Texas its first loss of the season.
QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Mahoney
Opening Statement
"That is a really good team. They're going to do a really nice job in their conference. They're well coached and they've got really nice athletes. I was happiest with the fact that I didn't feel like we played well Friday, but we got better Saturday, and this was our best match of the year. We're trending in the right direction, making little adjustments and dialing in. We hit .417 against a really good team. That says a lot, but we let them hit around .280, so we got to get a little bit better defensively. I thought we left a lot of blocks on the table, as always, but it was an impressive offensive performance by this team, so I'm excited for it."
On What's Next
"Mondays are good days because we get to rest and recover, especially after playing three matches. We'll get some good film study. This team prides itself on that, and we'll really know what we're up against on Thursday. We still have some battles at some positions. We still have to compete on Tuesday and Wednesday. I think more than anything, we're still getting comfortable with what we do and how we do it. When we do that, we can be really good."
Middle Blocker Alexia Kuehl
On Adjustments
"I think as the weekend went on we honed in more on energy, focusing on that and communicating more. We really tried to focus on that as a team and I think that helped us progress to the weekend."
Outside Hitter Maya Tabron
On Adjustments
"I would say the biggest thing is just nerves.. We hadn't really played much together coming out to that big crowd we had [on Friday]. We were really able to turn it around which was the good part, but Friday was just kind of getting those jitters out. We just have to keep on moving on and pushing, working harder every single day. I think we learned a lot on Friday, and we just need to continue to learn from it."
On What's Next
"It's going be a pretty quick turnaround. We're really going to have to use the time and the reps that we get on Tuesday and Wednesday to prep. It's just going to be a mindset of recovery and just being ready to go on Thursday."
Team Stats
UNT
CU
Kills
41
53
Errors
14
10
Attempts
91
103
Hitting %
.297
.417
Points
44.0
58.0
Assists
40
49
Aces
1
4
Blocks
2.0
1.0
Game Leaders
Kills
15
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
10
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
DS/L
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MB
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