Buffs Fall to No. 18 TCU in Three

FORT WORTH, Texas – The Colorado volleyball team (10-12, 3-7 Big 12) fell to the 18th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs (15-5, 7-3 Big 12) in three sets (18-25, 20-25, 15-25) at Schollmaier Arena on Wednesday night.

The Buffs stayed close in the first two sets, seeing 11 tie scores and four lead changes over the course of both sets. The Frogs managed to put all three sets away over the Black and Gold.

Colorado spread the wealth in Fort Worth offensively, recording kills from sophomore opposite Lily Dwinell, sophomore outside hitter Kendall Meller, senior middle blocker Bella Simkus, sophomore outside hitter Ana Burilovic, senior setter Taylor Simpson, freshman middle blocker Maria Splawska and sophomore middle blocker Cayla Payne.

KEY PLAYERS:

So. OPP Lily Dwinell had her 11th match of the season with double-digit kills with 10 and 12th with double-digit points at 11.5. She also had three digs and three blocks.
So. MB Cayla Payne had an ace for CU, her first of the season, during a crucial run in set three. She also totaled two blocks (one solo) and three kills (0e, 10att, hitting .300).
Sr. S Taylor Simpson was inches away from another double-double with 21 assists and nine digs on the night. She also had two kills and a block.
Jr. DS/L Sarah Morton led the Buffs in digs with 10 and had an assist. This is her 14th match with double-digit digs.
Fr. MB Maria Splawska recorded two kills (0e, 6att, hitting .333) and two blocks, and So. OH Kendall Meller had five kills and a block.
So. DS/L Avery Bolles had the Buffs' other ace on the night as well as one assist and two digs, and So. OH Ana Burilovic recorded five kills and seven digs for the Buffs. Sr. MB Bella Simkus had two kills on two swings and two blocks.
For the Horned Frogs, Melanie Parra led both teams with 16 kills and collected 12 digs. Alice Volpe also had 20 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Buffs kept it close with the Horned Frogs for much of the first set, trading points back and forth until the Buffs went on a 3-0 run with an ace from Bolles and a kill from Dwinell to tie it up (10-10). CU went on another 3-0 run to take the lead into the media timeout with a kill from birthday girl Bella Simkus (15-14). The Frogs went on back-to-back 4-0 runs to take a hefty lead and, despite three Dwinell kills, came away with set one, 25-18.
TCU took a smaller lead early in the second set and extended it out with a 3-0 run (8-5). The Buffs saw kills from Payne, Splawska and Burilovic to stay within four, but the Horned Frogs scored four-straight (19-11, TCU). After taking a timeout to regroup, Colorado scored its own three-straight off kills from Meller and Dwinell (19-14). The Black and Gold had more kills from Splawska, Payne and Dwinell to pull even closer, but dropped set two, 25-20.
Colorado gave up a 5-0 TCU run early in the third but answered with a 3-0 run of its own with kills from Dwinell and Meller after a timeout (8-7, TCU). The two teams traded runs again, with CU going on a 3-0 run off a rare Payne ace and a Simpson kill (16-13, TCU). The Buffs had another kill from Dwinell but were not able to go on another run and fell in the third set, 25-15.

UP NEXT:

Colorado continues its road trip with a match against 17th-ranked Baylor on Friday. First serve against the Bears is set for 6 p.m. MT on Nov. 1. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+ and links to watch are available at CUBuffs.com.

MATCH NOTES:

The Buffs move to 0-1 against the Frogs all-time in the teams' inaugural meeting.
This is the Buffs' fifth match against a ranked opponent this season, all five being conference opponents.

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

Lily Dwinell

Kendall Meller

Ana Burilović

Cayla Payne

Players Mentioned

Avery Bolles

Lily Dwinell

Kendall Meller

Sarah Morton

Cayla Payne

Bella Simkus

Taylor Simpson

Players Mentioned

Avery Bolles

Lily Dwinell

Kendall Meller

Sarah Morton

Cayla Payne

Bella Simkus

Taylor Simpson