Thursday, September 21
Boulder, Colo.
7:00 PM
Colorado
9-3,1-0Pac-12
3
vs
1
Utah
5-6,0-1Pac-12
1
2
3
4
F
Utah
15
19
30
19
1
Colorado
25
25
28
25
3
Maya Tabron kills a ball against Utah.
Photo by: Tony Harman
Tabron Shines In Victory Over Utah
September 21, 2023 | Volleyball
BOULDER - The Colorado women's volleyball team defeated Utah in a four set (25-15, 25-19, 28-30, 25-19) match here Thursday night to start out conference play in the win column.
The Buffaloes (9-3, 1-0 Pac-12) cruised by the Utes (5-6, 0-1 Pac-12) in the first two sets, but lost their way a bit in the final two. Despite matching its second most errors in a match this season, Colorado was able to get the job done when it mattered most down the stretch.
Maya Tabron and Lexi Hadrych were the scoring leaders for the Buffs, combining for 24 total kills. Tabron added 19 digs and four blocks as she earned her third double double in the last four matches and her fourth of the season.
Freshman Avery Bolles had a great performance serving tonight, racking up five aces. She was a huge reason why Colorado set a new season-high in service aces with 12. The previous season-high was nine which happened twice this season, once at Wichita State and once at Colorado State.
Skyy Howard led the defensive front with six blocks. She now has 57 blocks on the season which is 20 more than the next most on the team. The Colorado defense was able to force the Utes into committing 33 errors, the most errors made by a CU opponent this season.
The Buffaloes will look to keep its winning streak alive on Sunday as they face a tough test in No.4-ranked Stanford at home.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
SET ONE:
Colorado came ready to play, scoring the first five points and forcing an early Utah timeout. After the break, CU continued to have success as it consistently held a seven-point lead to 14-7. A kill from Hadrych followed by a block by Hadrych put the Buffs up 16-7. Tabron's back-to-back service aces gave Colorado set point and the set as CU took set one 25-15. The Buffs had four service aces in the set.
SET TWO:
The Buffs found themselves trailing 8-5 early in the set. Four unanswered points from Colorado quickly put the Buffs up 9-8. As a result, the Utes called their first timeout. Following the break, Utah was able to tie things up at 10 all. Two four-point scoring runs by CU translated into a 19-12 lead and another Utah timeout. The Utes threatened a comeback, but the Buffs held them off and reached set point on a kill by Tabron. Colorado won the set 25-19 following another kill by Tabron.
SET THREE:
CU dominated the start of set three as it took a 9-1 lead and forced a Utah timeout. The Utes were able to put a small dent in their deficit and come within five at 12-7. Later on, Utah trailed by just two at 20-18, but the Buffs were able to gain a bit of comfort with back-to-back points. The Utes called their final timeout of the set and then scored three unanswered. Colorado took a timeout while holding a 22-21 lead. In an extended set, Utah earned set point after a block on Tabron as CU took its final timeout. The Buffs tied it at 28-28 before the Utes reached set point again. A kill by Allie Olsen gave Utah its first set 30-28.
SET FOUR:
After a 4-4 tie, Utah went on a five-point scoring run, taking a 9-4 lead and forcing a Colorado timeout. CU responded with a four-point scoring run which led to a Utah timeout as the Buffs trailed by just one at 10-9. Later in the set, Colorado found itself down 16-12. An attack error by the Utes made it 17 all just before Tabron's 13th kill put CU up by one. The Buffs took a 21-18 lead and forced Utah's final timeout. Following the timeout, an attack error gave Colorado match point and another attack error gave CU the set 25-19.
QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Mahoney
Opening Statement
"Nice win. I'm really happy with the execution that the team had in this match. At the end, I said there are not a lot of sweeps in the Pac-12. And I think that's true. I think everyone is good. And Utah got better as the match went on. I think in that third set, we felt like we had it closed out, and that's the worst way to feel sometimes. I'm really happy with how we responded in that fourth set, and we had to claw our way back into the set and close out. So, really hard-fought match and victory. We made a couple of changes in lineup and philosophy and got a little bit more serving more point scoring from the end line, which I think really helped especially in the first two sets and then bringing us back, in the fourth so we'll take a day to enjoy it. And then we're on to Stanford on Sunday."
On Dropping the Third Set
"I mean, it's a little bit of human nature. It's absolutely true. Hopefully, we can learn from that,as we played in the start of that third set. We relaxed, and you know, frankly, I relaxed a little bit as well. And we ran out of subs, and we had to work in a place to close that set out. So luckily, it didn't bite us this time. And next time we're up 2-0, we'll talk about this match."
Outside Hitter, Sr., Maya Tabron
On The Match
"I think it was kind of the adrenaline pushing me. I had quite a few digs. I think I was just hoping that my teammates would trust me in the back of the court, and I got those balls up. I did feel it riling everybody up, and it gave us good energy to keep on pushing harder."
Defensive Specialist/Libero, R-So., Emma Torstenson
On Third And Fourth Sets
"I think in the third set, we started to relax. As Coach said, it's kind of human nature being up eight to one. You think you have the sweep. I think before the fourth set, we came together as a team. We took a deep breath and pretended the score was 0-0."
On Takeaways Ahead Of Stanford
"I think in this game, we really came out with a lot of energy right away. I think last weekend we were working from behind a lot. I think that was good for us to see that we can come out strong, and play with the lead instead of working behind."
The Buffaloes (9-3, 1-0 Pac-12) cruised by the Utes (5-6, 0-1 Pac-12) in the first two sets, but lost their way a bit in the final two. Despite matching its second most errors in a match this season, Colorado was able to get the job done when it mattered most down the stretch.
Maya Tabron and Lexi Hadrych were the scoring leaders for the Buffs, combining for 24 total kills. Tabron added 19 digs and four blocks as she earned her third double double in the last four matches and her fourth of the season.
Freshman Avery Bolles had a great performance serving tonight, racking up five aces. She was a huge reason why Colorado set a new season-high in service aces with 12. The previous season-high was nine which happened twice this season, once at Wichita State and once at Colorado State.
Skyy Howard led the defensive front with six blocks. She now has 57 blocks on the season which is 20 more than the next most on the team. The Colorado defense was able to force the Utes into committing 33 errors, the most errors made by a CU opponent this season.
The Buffaloes will look to keep its winning streak alive on Sunday as they face a tough test in No.4-ranked Stanford at home.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
SET ONE:
Colorado came ready to play, scoring the first five points and forcing an early Utah timeout. After the break, CU continued to have success as it consistently held a seven-point lead to 14-7. A kill from Hadrych followed by a block by Hadrych put the Buffs up 16-7. Tabron's back-to-back service aces gave Colorado set point and the set as CU took set one 25-15. The Buffs had four service aces in the set.
SET TWO:
The Buffs found themselves trailing 8-5 early in the set. Four unanswered points from Colorado quickly put the Buffs up 9-8. As a result, the Utes called their first timeout. Following the break, Utah was able to tie things up at 10 all. Two four-point scoring runs by CU translated into a 19-12 lead and another Utah timeout. The Utes threatened a comeback, but the Buffs held them off and reached set point on a kill by Tabron. Colorado won the set 25-19 following another kill by Tabron.
SET THREE:
CU dominated the start of set three as it took a 9-1 lead and forced a Utah timeout. The Utes were able to put a small dent in their deficit and come within five at 12-7. Later on, Utah trailed by just two at 20-18, but the Buffs were able to gain a bit of comfort with back-to-back points. The Utes called their final timeout of the set and then scored three unanswered. Colorado took a timeout while holding a 22-21 lead. In an extended set, Utah earned set point after a block on Tabron as CU took its final timeout. The Buffs tied it at 28-28 before the Utes reached set point again. A kill by Allie Olsen gave Utah its first set 30-28.
SET FOUR:
After a 4-4 tie, Utah went on a five-point scoring run, taking a 9-4 lead and forcing a Colorado timeout. CU responded with a four-point scoring run which led to a Utah timeout as the Buffs trailed by just one at 10-9. Later in the set, Colorado found itself down 16-12. An attack error by the Utes made it 17 all just before Tabron's 13th kill put CU up by one. The Buffs took a 21-18 lead and forced Utah's final timeout. Following the timeout, an attack error gave Colorado match point and another attack error gave CU the set 25-19.
QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Mahoney
Opening Statement
"Nice win. I'm really happy with the execution that the team had in this match. At the end, I said there are not a lot of sweeps in the Pac-12. And I think that's true. I think everyone is good. And Utah got better as the match went on. I think in that third set, we felt like we had it closed out, and that's the worst way to feel sometimes. I'm really happy with how we responded in that fourth set, and we had to claw our way back into the set and close out. So, really hard-fought match and victory. We made a couple of changes in lineup and philosophy and got a little bit more serving more point scoring from the end line, which I think really helped especially in the first two sets and then bringing us back, in the fourth so we'll take a day to enjoy it. And then we're on to Stanford on Sunday."
On Dropping the Third Set
"I mean, it's a little bit of human nature. It's absolutely true. Hopefully, we can learn from that,as we played in the start of that third set. We relaxed, and you know, frankly, I relaxed a little bit as well. And we ran out of subs, and we had to work in a place to close that set out. So luckily, it didn't bite us this time. And next time we're up 2-0, we'll talk about this match."
Outside Hitter, Sr., Maya Tabron
On The Match
"I think it was kind of the adrenaline pushing me. I had quite a few digs. I think I was just hoping that my teammates would trust me in the back of the court, and I got those balls up. I did feel it riling everybody up, and it gave us good energy to keep on pushing harder."
Defensive Specialist/Libero, R-So., Emma Torstenson
On Third And Fourth Sets
"I think in the third set, we started to relax. As Coach said, it's kind of human nature being up eight to one. You think you have the sweep. I think before the fourth set, we came together as a team. We took a deep breath and pretended the score was 0-0."
On Takeaways Ahead Of Stanford
"I think in this game, we really came out with a lot of energy right away. I think last weekend we were working from behind a lot. I think that was good for us to see that we can come out strong, and play with the lead instead of working behind."
Team Stats
Utah
CU
Kills
49
45
Errors
33
22
Attempts
138
119
Hitting %
.116
.193
Points
64.0
70.0
Assists
42
38
Aces
4
13
Blocks
11
12
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
14
Aces
2
Blocks
4
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Players Mentioned
DS/L
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
DS/L
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