Buffs Fall to Sun Devils in Three

TEMPE, Ariz. – The Colorado volleyball team (10-9, 3-4 Big 12) fell to the Arizona State Sun Devils (18-2, 7-1 Big 12) in three sets (22-25, 16-25, 21-25) at Mullett Arena on Friday night.

The Buffs played hard in all three sets, only dropping the first set by three points. After a tough second set, Colorado came back in the third from being down by as many as 10 but were unable to complete the comeback.

The Buffs hit .302 in transition on the match and totaled 34 kills. The Sun Devils were in system on first ball 60% on average this season, but Colorado held ASU to 38% in system on the night.

KEY PLAYERS:

So. OH Ana Burilovic led the Buffs in kills with 13 kills (4e, 34att) and picked up five digs (digging 75%) and an assist. This is her 16th match with both double-digit kills and points (13.0).
So. MB Cayla Payne had eight kills (1e, 13att, hitting .538), as well as one assist, one dig and one block.
So. OPP Lily Dwinell had four kills (1e, 12att, hitting .250), one dig and two blocks.
So. OH Sydney Jordan had seven kills, three digs and an assist.
Sr. S Taylor Simpson set for 23 kills and had the second most digs for Colorado with eight (digging 64%). She also had an ace.
Jr. DS/L Sarah Morton led the team digs with nine and had five assists, and So. DS/L Avery Bolles had an ace and four digs.
For the Sun Devils, Geli Cyr had 14 kills and 11 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Buffs were social and vocal in set one, talking loud and making adjustments. CU went on a 3-0 run to start the set with kills from Payne and Burilovic (4-2). The Black and Gold maintained a lead for the first half of the set, trading points with the Sun Devils (11-8, CU). ASU then scored five-straight to take the lead, 13-11. Set one saw six more kills from Burilovic and two more 3-0 Buff runs, but Arizona State took set one, 25-22.
Colorado saw a bit of trial and error in set two but went back and forth to start off with the set seeing seven tie scores (13-12, ASU). CU saw big kills from Payne and Jordan in the second set, but the Sun Devils went on a 6-0 run to take a strong lead (19-12, ASU). The Buffs saw a crucial kill from Dwinell but dropped set two, 25-16.
After two kills from Payne and one from Burilovic, the Buffs slowed to a near halt in the third set as ASU scored nine-straight (15-5). Simpson cashed in an ace for the Buffs in the middle of set three, to try and gain some momentum, and Simkus and Burilovic each had a kill to form a 3-0 run. The Buffs quickly went on another 3-0 run with kills from Burilovic and Dwinell, and an ace from Bolles brought CU within four (18-14, ASU). The teams exchanged 4-0 runs, with the Black and Gold getting a kill from Jordan. The Buffs saw one more kill each from Jordan and Payne and came within three but lost set three, 25-21.

UP NEXT:

After a long stretch on the road finishing 2-1, the Buffs return to Boulder next week for matches against West Virginia and BYU on Wednesday and Friday at CU Events Center. First serve against the Mountaineers is set for 7 p.m. MDT on Oct. 23, and first serve versus the Cougars is set for 7 p.m. MDT on Oct. 25. The matches will be broadcast on ESPN+, and links to watch the match are available at CUBuffs.com.

MATCH NOTES:

Colorado moves to 13-13 all-time against Arizona State and 3-2 in three-set matches this season.
This is the Buffs' third match against a ranked opponent this season, all three being conference opponents.

Under ninth-year head coach Jesse Mahoney, Colorado earned a winning record in the 2023 season (16-15) and went 8-12 against Pac-12 opponents. A significant win for the Buffs took place against 17th-ranked Arizona State last year. The Buffs took down the Sun Devils in three sets, completing the sweep and earning CU's only win against a ranked opponent in the 2023 season. Colorado also swept Arizona (Oct. 20) and Washington (Nov. 19) and finished seventh in the Pac-12.

For more information on the Colorado volleyball team, please visit cubuffs.com/vb. Fans of the Buffs can follow @cubuffsvb on Instagram, X, and Facebook.

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Team Stats

Ana Burilović

Cayla Payne

Sydney Jordan

Lily Dwinell

Players Mentioned

Avery Bolles

Lily Dwinell

Sydney Jordan

Sarah Morton

Cayla Payne

Taylor Simpson

Players Mentioned

Avery Bolles

Lily Dwinell

Sydney Jordan

Sarah Morton

Cayla Payne

Taylor Simpson