Colorado
7-3,0-0Pac-12
Colorado State
6-5,0-0Mountain West
Colorado Claims Golden Spike, Reverse Sweep CSU
September 15, 2023 | Volleyball
BOULDER – The Colorado Women's Volleyball team (7-3) won a thriller in five sets (17-25, 20-25, 25-19, 28-26,15-13) against the Colorado State Rams (6-6) Friday night in Fort Collins and will take possession of the Golden Spike Trophy for the third-straight year.
Buffs reverse sweep for the second year in a row to keep the Golden Spike!!#GoBuffs pic.twitter.com/3sOXng78Tq
— Colorado Buffaloes Volleyball (@CUBuffsVB) September 16, 2023
The Buffs answer back with a reverse sweep of their own on the road and stun the Rams in a full five sets. CU's first win in Fort Collins since 2021.
Setter Taylor Simpson recorded her second double-double of the season with 54 assists and 12 digs. Her 54 assists shatters her previous career-high of 47. Maya Tabron notched her third double-double of the season and second of the week, with 12 kills and 12 digs. Lexi Hadrych led the way for Colorado in kills with 17.
Cayla gets things started in the second set!#GoBuffs pic.twitter.com/OCxJvMbNeW
— Colorado Buffaloes Volleyball (@CUBuffsVB) September 16, 2023
Five different Buffs had double-digit kills on the night, including first years Lily Dwinell and Cayla Payne both earning career-highs in kills. Dwinell had 11 kills on 26 attempts (.423) and Payne had 11 kills on 17 attempts (.647).
Skyy Howard continues her torrid run as a Buff in the 2023 campaign, contributing 12 kills with a .579 hit percentage and 5 blocks.
SKYY HOWARD??#GoBuffs // @HowardSkyy pic.twitter.com/ZzyCK7Oo9d
— Colorado Buffaloes Volleyball (@CUBuffsVB) September 16, 2023
"Excited to keep the Golden Spike another year in Boulder! A very well played match from an offensive standpoint by both teams," stated head coach Jesse Mahoney. "CSU always packs Moby for this match, but once we got past the initial shock of the crowd and the environment I thought we did a great job of getting better each set. We really needed production from the middle and right side tonight, and we got that from Skyy, Cayla and Lily."
Despite the loss, CSU outside hitter Malaya Jones broke her career-high that she set last night in Boulder (21) with 23 kills in front of the home crowd.
The Buffs will be back in action on Sunday at home, when they take on the Denver Pioneers at 2 p.m. MT.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
SET 1
The Rams got out to a 6-0 start and never looked back. They finished the set with eight more points than CU, 25-17. Howard led the Buffaloes with four kills on five attempts. Malaya Jones, who posted a career-high 21 kills the night before, continued her hot streak with six more kills and a block in the first set. Annie Sullivan was right behind Jones, with five kills of her own for CSU.
SET 2
First year Cayla Payne jolted the Colorado offense, earning four of the first 10 CU points. Payne ended with five kills in the set. On the other side of the net, Naeemah Weathers contributed to four of the first six Rams points, tallying three kills and a block. The two teams traded back-to-back-to-back service errors early on and had six total by the end of the set. It was Sullivan who broke open the lead for the Rams, earning three kills in a four-point span to go up 23-19. Weathers and Jones swatted down a ball from Hadrych to end the set.
SET 3
Thanks to three quick kills from CU first year, Lily Dwinell, the Buffs got out to a 13-9 lead. Four Buff blocks late in the set, including two solo blocks Hadrych, kept Colorado ahead late as Hadrych closed it out with a kill followed it up with a service ace for a 25-19 set win.
SET 4
The most exciting set in the match, as both teams traded the lead multiple times. CSU jumped out to a 7-3 lead, warranting the first Colorado timeout. CU answered back with four consecutive points to knot things up at seven. The Rams started to pull away after four consecutive points of their own to go up 12-8, forcing the Buffs' second timeout. Both teams went back-and-forth with the score being tied on five separate occasions, CU finally took a 27-26 lead on a service ace from Taylor Simpson, and then took the set due to a CSU attack error.
SET 5
CU got out to a 3-0 lead, and that was the largest lead of the set for either side. Multiple kills from Tabron, Hadrych, and Payne propelled Colorado to a 15-13 set win to come roaring all the way back from a 0-2 set deficit.
