No. 22 Colorado Upsets No. 16 TCU

Thursday, November 13

Boulder, Colo.

7 PM

Colorado

21-5,11-3Big 12

#16 TCU

18-8,8-6Big 12

TCU

Colorado

November 13, 2025 | Volleyball

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Senior setter Rian Finley reached 1,000 career assists

By: Malala Pyle, Assistant Director of Athletic Communication

BOULDER – The 22nd-ranked Colorado volleyball team (21-5, 11-3 Big 12) defeated No. 16 TCU (18-8, 8-6 Big 12) in five sets (25-21, 19-25, 19-25, 29-27, 19-17) at CU Events Center on Thursday, Nov. 13.

The Buffs notched their fourth-ranked win of the season on a comeback thriller match against the Horned Frogs. CU went down 2-1 but fought back in the last two sets – taking them both to extras. The match saw 42 tie scores and 18 lead changes overall. Senior setter Rian Finley reached 1,000 career assists, becoming the 15th Buff to do so.

"This is the tale of two matches," head coach Jesse Mahoney said. "We came out really efficient in the first set, and then in sets two and three, TCU blocked us a ton. We had a ton of attacking errors. Credit to our players —set four and set five — really righted the ship. We passed well the entire match, and we just kept chipping away. We talked in timeouts about, 'hey, keep doing the right things, and you'll get rewarded,' and that's what happened. That was a great win for us. That's a really good team and [this win] puts us in a good position."

Colorado had out-assisted (60-50), out-aced (10-4) and out-dug (60-54) TCU. CU held TCU to .180 or lower in the first, fourth and fifth sets.

KEY PLAYERS:

Sr. S Rian Finley reached 1,000 career assists, becoming the 15th Buff to do so. She finished the night with 50 assists, and she also recorded nine digs, three aces, three kills and two blocks.
Jr. PIN Ana Burilovic led the match with 24 kills and 11 digs for her fourth double-double of the season and 10th of her career. It was also her 11th match this year with 20 or more kills.
Jr. PIN Lily Dwinell earned 13 kills and 13 digs, marking her first career double-double, along with four blocks and an ace.
Jr. PIN Sydney Jordan tallied 12 kills, eight digs, an ace, one assist and one block.
Jr. MB Cayla Payne recorded seven kills and three total blocks.
So. MB Maria Splawska added five kills, four blocks, two aces and three digs.
So. PIN Gwen Schiff contributed a dig, and Fr. S Audrey Asleson recorded one dig and two assists.
Sr. DS/L Sarah Morton reached 10 digs, her 17th match this season with double-digit digs, and five assists.
Fr. PIN Inés Losada scored three aces, and So. DS/L/S Katie Salonga earned two assists and three digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Colorado Buffaloes opened the match with a kill from Dwinell (1-0, CU). Dwinell added another kill to tie the set at 6-6. Finley then set up Burilovic to bring the Buffs within one (10-9, TCU). Finley delivered Colorado's first ace (14-15, CU) and totaled two assists on the opening run, while Jordan followed with back-to-back aces that forced TCU's first timeout (18-15, CU). Splawska and Dwinell also combined for a block to help maintain the lead (19-15, CU). Burilovic added four kills in the frame, including the swing that pushed the Buffs ahead, 22-19. Losada closed the set with her first ace of the match, securing the 25-21 first set win for Colorado.

A kill from Dwinell tied the set early (2-2, CU). Jordan and Dwinell followed with back-to-back kills (6-7, CU). Splawska added a kill to tie it again (8-8, CU). Burilovic scored three key kills that maintained the Buffs' lead 10-9, 11-10 and 13-12. After the media timeout, TCU took control with a 16-14 lead. Colorado called its first timeout as the Frogs extended the margin (19-15, TCU). The Buffs made a late push with a Dwinell kill and two aces from Splawska (23-19, TCU), but TCU closed out the set, 25-19.

A Burilovic kill gave CU an early lead (4-2, CU). Losada added an ace to make it 6-4 to CU, followed by back-to-back kills from Jordan (8-5, CU). After a successful TCU challenge, CU trailed 16-12, TCU. Colorado called its first timeout, which was followed by an ace from Losada and a block from Splawska and Jordan (19–14, TCU). Despite their efforts, Colorado was unable to stop the TCU Frogs and dropped the third set (25–19, TCU).

Set four began with a slow start for Colorado, but the Buffs found their rhythm and took the lead after an ace from Dwinell, prompting TCU to call its first timeout. After an unsuccessful challenge from TCU, Colorado extended its lead with kills from Burilovic and Jordan (9-7, CU). A kill from Splawska pushed the Buffs back in front (14-13, CU), followed by a block from Burilovic (15-13, CU). A kill from Payne gave Colorado a three-point lead (18-15, CU), leading to another TCU timeout. Payne added another kill out of the break (21-17, CU). Colorado then called a timeout after TCU closed the gap (21-19, CU). With the Frogs pushing late, the Buffs used another timeout at 24-24. A block from Splawska and Dwinell tied the score again at 25-25, and Colorado battled through to take the set in a hard-fought finish (29-27, CU).
Colorado carried the energy into the fifth set, taking an early lead (3-1, CU). Back-to-back kills from Burilovic and another from Payne forced a TCU timeout (6-2, CU). A Finley ace led to another TCU timeout (9-5, CU). Finley continued to guide the offense with key assists, and Colorado used a timeout when the score tightened (12-10, CU). An unsuccessful TCU challenge and a tied score brought another CU timeout at 14-14. A kill from Jordan tied things again at 17-17. A kill from Dwinell and a huge block from Splawska sealed the match, giving the Buffaloes the victory (19-17, CU).

UP NEXT

No. 22 Colorado has a second top-25 matchup this week on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 1 p.m. MT against No. 8 Arizona State. The match will be streamed on ESPN+, and fans can follow along via live stats links on CUBuffs.com.

MATCH NOTES:

The Buffs move to 1-1 versus the Horned Frogs all-time.
The Buffaloes got their sixth 3-2 win of the season and are undefeated in five-set matches.
Colorado had more kills (64-57), assists (60-50), aces (10-4) and digs (60-54) than TCU.
The Buffs are undefeated in Big 12 home matches.
This is CU's fourth ranked win of the season, moving to 4-2 in ranked matchups.

For more information on the Colorado women's volleyball team, a complete schedule and results, please visit CUBuffs.com. Fans of the Buffs can follow the team on Instagram and on Twitter @CUBuffsVB.