Colorado Volleyball Gears Up for Golden Spike Battle

BOULDER – The Colorado volleyball team (6-4) finishes up nonconference play this week with its annual home-and-home against Colorado State (3-5). The Buffs will go to Fort Collins on Thursday (Sept. 19) to play the Rams in Moby Arena at 6 p.m., and the Rams will venture to Boulder on Friday at 7 p.m. to determine who will take home the Golden Spike Trophy.

The Buffs Invitational trophy stayed home as Colorado finished in first place at the end of last weekend, securing wins over UC Irvine and Cal. Senior setter Taylor Simpson was named All-Tournament MVP, and sophomore middle blocker Cayla Payne and sophomore outside hitter Sydney Jordan were also selected to the Buffs Invitational All-Tournament Team.

RIVALRY WEEK
COLORADO STATE
Moby Arena • FORT COLLINS, Colo. // CU Events Center • BOULDER, Colo.
Mountain West Network // ESPN+
MATCH #1 • Thursday, September 19 • 6 p.m. MT
MATCH #2 • Friday, September 20 • 7 p.m. MT
Colorado (6-4) vs. CSU (3-5)
SERIES RECORD: 18-27, CSU Leads
LAST MEETING: W, 3-2 (September 15, 2024 • Fort Collins, Colo.)
STREAK: Won 1 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 6-4
OPPONENT WEBSITE: CSURams.com

FIRST SERVE (TL;DR)

CU is led by ninth-year head coach Jesse Mahoney, who has led the Buffs to a 134-113 (.543) record as CU's fifth head volleyball coach. Coach Mahoney has been extended through 2027 and has led the Buffs to three NCAA appearances.
Sr. S Taylor Simpson received her second All-Tournament Team award at the conclusion of Buffs Invitational. She was named Buffs Invite All-Tournament MVP and she finished the weekend with 122 total assists and 21 digs.
So. MB Cayla Payne, who ended the weekend with 27 kills and 10 blocks, received her third All-Tournament Team selection of the season. She also had eight kills and five blocks (one solo) against Northern Colorado. Not only that, she reached 200 career kills with six against Wyoming.
So. OH Sydney Jordan ended Buffs Invite with 37 kills and 23 digs and earned her first All-Tournament Team selection of the season. She also surpassed 100 career kills and 100 career digs with her contributions in Buffs Invitational.
So. OH Ana Burilovic recorded another double-double this weekend against Wyoming, with 12 kills and 10 digs (69% dig percentage). She also had Wyoming out of system on her serve 69% of the time. Burilovic totaled 43 kills, 22 digs, five blocks and four aces.
So. DS/L Avery Bolles saw her first start at libero on Saturday night against Cal (Sept. 14) and set a career-high in digs with 12. She went on to match this high against Wyoming. She finished all four of last weeks' matches with 41 digs.
Jr. DS/L Sarah Morton recorded her third match with 20 or more digs and her fifth in double-digit digs against UC Irvine (Sept. 13).
Fr. DS/L/S Katie Salonga had a career-high five digs against Cal (Sept. 14) and kept Wyoming out of system on 67% of her serves (Sept. 15).
Jr. MB Bella Simkus had only one error over the four matches last week and totaled 15 kills.

BATTLE FOR THE GOLDEN SPIKE: The Golden Spike was originally donated by Colorado Volleyball supporter club members -- specifically the Comanche Crossing Museum in Strasburg, Colo., where the final spike was driven to connect the first continuous chain of train tracks from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Since the inaugural Battle for the Golden Spike in 2019, the Buffs lead the Rams 4-3, having won the last three-straight.

ROAM WITH THE BUFFS: The Buffs' Thursday match at Fort Collins will be broadcast on Mountain West Network. The home match at CUEC on Friday will be broadcast on ESPN+ as well as the neutral matches in Buffs Invitational. Fans also can follow Colorado matches through live stats with links available at CUBuffs.com.

MILESTONE CHECK: So. DS/L Avery Bolles set a career-high 12 digs against Cal on Saturday night (Sept. 14) and matched this high against Wyoming the next day (Sept. 15). Totaling 41 digs on the weekend, Bolles surpassed 100 career digs. Jr. DS/L Sarah Morton reached 119 total digs at Colorado over the weekend, now sitting at 889 in her career. So. OH Sydney Jordan surpassed 100 career kills and 100 career digs with her contributions in Buffs Invitational. So. MB Cayla Payne reached 200 career kills with six against Wyoming.

FIVE-SET FUN FACT: With its win over UC Irvine on Friday night (Sept. 13), Colorado played its fifth five-set match of the season. This is the most five-set matches played in the first 10 games of the season in CU Volleyball history.

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.

Colorado University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Avery Bolles

Sydney Jordan

Sarah Morton

Cayla Payne

Katie Salonga

Bella Simkus

Taylor Simpson

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