No. 24 Colorado Sweeps American in NCAA First Round

Thursday, December 4

Bloomington, Ind.

1 PM

Colorado

23-8,12-6Big 12

American

24-5,15-1Patriot

American

Colorado

December 04, 2025 | Volleyball

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By: Malala Pyle, Assistant Director of Athletic Communication

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The 24th-ranked and fifth-seeded Colorado volleyball team (23-8, 12-6 Big 12) defeated American (24-5, 15-1 Patriot League) in three sets (25-16, 25-19, 25-16) at Wilkinson Hall on Thursday, Dec. 4, in the NCAA First Round.

The Buffaloes started their run in the NCAA tournament with a first-round sweep of the Eagles. The Buffs established early leads in each set, going up by as many as 11 in the third. Although American went on a couple of late runs, the Black and Gold held off the Eagles and advanced to the second round for just the 12th time in program history.

"That's a really good team, and [American] played well," head coach Jesse Mahoney said. "I'm really proud of our team for playing that match at the level that we can play. We prepped well – we knew American was going to challenge us, and I'm happy for how we responded."

The Buffaloes had more kills (44-31), assists (41-29), digs (43-40), blocks (11-5) and aces (6-2) than American. Colorado held the Eagles to .111 hitting in the match, and to .088 in the third set.

KEY PLAYERS:

Jr. PIN Sydney Jordan led the match in kills with 15, hitting .500 (2e, 26att). She also had five digs, three blocks, including two solo blocks to match her career-high, two aces and one assist.
So. MB Maria Splawska tallied eight kills, hitting .667 (0e, 12att), six blocks, two of which were solo, and three digs.
Sr. DS/L Sarah Morton led the match with 16 digs. She also had four assists.
Jr. PIN Ana Burilovic saw nine kills, five digs, two blocks, two aces and one assist.
Sr. S Rian Finley led the match in assists with 33. She also had seven digs
Jr. MB Cayla Payne recorded six kills and three blocks, including one solo.
Jr. PIN Lily Dwinell had six kills, hitting .455 (1e, 11att), three blocks and one dig.
Fr. PIN Inés Losada tallied two aces, one dig and one assist.
Jr. DS/L Peyton Neal had five digs, and So. DS/L/S Katie Salonga saw one assist.
For the Eagles, Salme Adeele Hollas recorded 10 kills, and Bella Marrero had 13 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Buffaloes opened the first set with a 3-0 run, seeing kills from Burilovic and Splawska, as well as a Splawska-Dwinell block (3-0, CU). Another run saw the Buffs ahead by as many as five from Payne, Dwinell and Burilovic kills (7-2, CU). After a Payne-Jordan block and errors from American, the Eagles called their first timeout (10-3, CU). A kill from Jordan and an ace from Losada increased the Colorado lead to eight (12-4, CU). The Eagles tried to go on a run, but a kill from Jordan ended their momentum (13-6, CU). Ahead by nine from Dwinell and Burilovic kills, as well as a Jordan ace, the Buffaloes forced American to call its second timeout (17-8, CU). A kill from Jordan put the Buffs ahead by 10 as kills from Burilovic and Dwinell continued the momentum for Colorado (24-14, CU). With a final kill from Jordan, assisted by Salonga, Colorado took the first set (25-16, CU).
The Black and Gold carried the energy into the second set to start with kills from Splawska and Burilovic, as well as a solo block from Payne (3-1, CU). The Eagles took their only lead of the match after four unanswered points (5-3, AU). Colorado responded with a 4-0 run of their own from two Jordan solo blocks, and an ace and kill from Burilovic to send American into a timeout (7-5, CU). The Eagles called their second timeout amidst a five-point run from a Losada ace and a kill from Jordan (12-6, CU). American ended the run, but Colorado went on a 6-0 run, led by Jordan's four consecutive kills, a solo block from Splawska and a kill from Dwinell (18-7, CU). The Buffs and the Eagles traded points from Splawska and Dwinell kills (21-11, CU). American went on two runs near the end of the set, but Jordan, Payne, Splawska and Burilovic continued to score, ending the second set (25-19, CU).
American was forced to call an early timeout after a 6-0 run from the Buffaloes, including an ace from Jordan, as well as blocks and kills from Burilovic, Dwinell and Splawska (6-0, CU). After a short trade of points from Splawska and Payne kills, the Buffs went on a 3-0 run, including a pair of kills from Payne and Jordan, and a Burilovic ace (12-4, CU). The Eagles called a timeout and returned to score twice, but Colorado extended their lead to nine from three Jordan kills (15-6, CU). Three points from American were returned with three from the Buffs, with a Splawska-Dwinell block and a Jordan kill putting Colorado at double the points of the Eagles (18-9, CU). A solo block and kill from Splawska extended the lead to 11 (21-10, CU). The Black and Gold called a timeout after three American points, but two kills from Payne, assisted by Finley, ended the third set, 25-16, CU).

UP NEXT

No. 24 Colorado will take on 15th-ranked fourth-seed host Indiana tomorrow, Friday, Dec. 5, at Wilkinson Hall in Bloomington, Ind., at 4 p.m. MT (6 p.m. ET). The match will be streamed on ESPN+, and fans can follow along via live stats links on CUBuffs.com.
This is the 12th second-round appearance for the Buffs all-time. Colorado is 4-7 all-time in the NCAA Second Round.
CU is 2-2 when playing matches on Dec. 5.

MATCH NOTES:

The Buffs move to 3-0 versus the Eagles and Patriot League opponents all-time.
In its first postseason tournament appearance since 2022 and the 22nd tournament appearance in program history, Colorado dominated in a 3-0 victory.
CU is 4-0 when playing on Dec. 4.
In program history, the Buffs move to 14-21 in the NCAA tournament and 10-10 in first-round matches.
The Buffs are now 8-9 in three-set NCAA matches.
The Buffaloes got their 11th 3-0 win of the season and are 11-3 in three-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.