No. 23 Colorado Falls to No. 24 BYU in Four on Senior Day

Saturday, November 29

Boulder, Colo.

1 PM

Colorado

22-8,12-6Big 12

#24 BYU

22-8,10-8Big 12

BYU

Colorado

No. 23 Colorado Falls to No. 24 BYU in Four on Senior Day

November 29, 2025 | Volleyball

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By: Macy Mohlenkamp, Athletic Communications Associate

BOULDER – The 23rd-ranked Colorado volleyball team (22-8, 12-6 Big 12) fell to No. 24 BYU (22-8, 10-8 Big 12) in four sets (25-22, 20-25, 25-20, 25-20) at the CU Events Center on Saturday, Nov. 29.

The Colorado Buffaloes played four close sets with the Cougars. The Buffs fought back and took the second set, but ultimately BYU took the third and fourth sets.

"I thought a large portion of that was a really well played match by both sides," head coach Jesse Mahoney stated. "Obviously, BYU got the best of us there towards the end of set four. We got caught in a couple of rotations in each set and bled four, five, sometimes six points. That was really the difference. I thought we had a really nice game plan, and we executed it defensively fairly well. They've got some really athletic attackers, and they were able to survive out of system a little bit more than we were. But regardless of the loss, we were really proud of this group this season, we played really good volleyball and put ourselves in position to go to the NCAA tournament. We're excited for that phase of our season coming up."

Colorado had more aces (5-4) than BYU. The Buffs held the Cougars to .056 hitting in the second set.

KEY PLAYERS:

Jr. PIN Ana Burilovic led the match with 22 kills, six digs, two blocks and an ace.
Jr. PIN Sydney Jordan led the match in digs with 12, and had seven kills, one block and one ace.
Sr. S Rian Finley recorded 31 assists, nine digs, three blocks and two kills.
FINLEY ON CELEBRATING SENIOR DAY: "It's amazing. These are the kind of moments that you play for, to play in front of your family, [to] have everyone come and support, to watch this final game and to be so supportive over the careers of our life, the ups and downs – they've seen it all. This is nothing new for them, and the sacrifices that they make. Being able to have this night and celebrate with them is pretty incredible."
Jr. MB Cayla Payne tallied eight blocks, including two solo, seven kills and one assist.
Jr. PIN Lily Dwinell had six kills, three blocks and three digs.
Sr. DS/L Sarah Morton tallied eight digs and five assists.
So. MB Maria Splawska recorded four kills, three blocks, two digs and one assist.
Jr. DS/L Peyton Neal had three digs, two aces and one assist.
So. DS/L/S Katie Salonga saw one ace and one assist.
For the Cougars, Claire Little Chambers had 18 kills and 11 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Colorado started the match with an early 5-0 run, including kills from Burilovic and Payne, sending the Cougars into their first timeout (5-1, CU). A Payne-Dwinell block ended a short BYU run (6-4, CU). BYU tied the match after kills from Payne and Jordan (9-9). The Buffs and the Cougars traded short runs, seeing kills from Dwinell and Burilovic, as well as a Payne-Finley block (15-14, CU). An ace from Salonga and a kill from Burilovic kept the Buffs and the Cougars tied (19-19). Colorado called a timeout in the middle of a BYU run, but a kill from Splawska ended the scoring streak (22-19, BYU). BYU called its second timeout after a kill from Burilovic, and a block from Payne and Dwinell (23-22, BYU). The Buffs called a final timeout, but the Cougars took set one, 25-22.
A kill from Dwinell, followed by a Payne-Burilovic block started the second set for the Buffs (2-0, CU). The Buffaloes saw seven unanswered points from a Burilovic kill, an ace from Neal and a Payne-Finley block (7-1, CU). Colorado and BYU began trading points, with kills from Burilovic, Finley, Dwinell and Splawska (12-8, CU). Kills from Jordan, Payne and Dwinell saw the trade continue (18-16, CU). A three-point run from the Buffs forced the Cougars to call a timeout (22-19, CU). A Payne-Burilovic block, as well as a kill and an ace from Burilovic ended the first set, 25-20 (CU).
Down by two, the Buffs went on a 3-0 run from Splawska, Jordan and Burilovic kills (3-2, CU). A kill and a solo block from Payne forced BYU to call its first timeout (7-4, CU). The Buffs returned to the court for a Payne kill and a Neal ace (9-4, CU). Colorado went up by six from a Finley kill and a Splawska-Finley block (12-6, CU). After six unanswered Cougar points, Colorado called its first timeout (12-12). Burilovic ended the run with a kill (13-12, CU). BYU tied the match again, but a kill from Dwinell put the Buffs ahead (17-16, CU). Colorado called a timeout after three BYU points (19-17, BYU). Two kills from Burilovic halted runs from the Cougars, but BYU took set three, 25-20.
The Buffs doubled the score early in the fourth set from Burilovic and Jordan kills, as well as a Payne solo block (6-3, CU). The Cougars tied the score, but a service error and a Splawska-Jordan block put the Buffaloes back in the lead (8-6, CU). Four points from BYU sent Colorado into its first timeout of the set, and a kill from Dwinell ended the BYU run (11-10, BYU). The Buffs called their second timeout after a 4-0 run from the Cougars (15-10, BYU). Three kills from Burilovic brought the Buffs within two (16-14, BYU). Colorado and BYU traded points once again, including Payne, Burilovic, Jordan and Splawska kills (19-18, BYU). The Buffs tied the match from BYU errors (20-20). The Cougars went on a five-point run to take the fourth set (25-20, BYU).

UP NEXT

No. 23 Colorado will tune in to the NCAA Volleyball Selection Show on Sunday, Nov. 30, at 4 p.m. MT. Fans can follow along and find out where the Buffs are seeded on ESPN.
MORTON ON NCAA TOURNAMENT: "I'm hungry. We're going to go as far into the tournament as we can. And I think every team, every person, has an opinion and a say on what they think that we are going to do, but nobody knows what we're going to do except for us. I know that we are a very hungry team. People had speculated about how this year was going to go for us, and it's been a great season. It's been the best season I could have asked for, especially for my senior year. So, I think this game, especially, really puts a fire under our butts as a team, and only motivates us more."

MATCH NOTES:

The Buffs move to 2-6 versus the Cougars all-time.
The Buffaloes got their fourth 3-1 loss of the season and are 6-4 in four-set matches.

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.