Buffs Batter Bulldogs, Colorado Sweeps Fresno State

IRVINE, Calif. – The Colorado volleyball team (4-0, 0-0 Big 12) defeated Fresno State (2-2, 0-0 Mountain West) in three sets (25-23, 25-18, 25-13) at Bren Events Center on Thursday, Sept. 4.

The Buffaloes swept the Bulldogs in their first match of the Anteater Classic. After playing a close first set, the Black and Gold made some key adjustments and rallied to shut out the Bulldogs by seven and 12 points in the second and third sets.

"Another sweep, we're excited about that," head coach Jesse Mahoney said. "We are 4-0 and have won 12 sets; we're playing really well. I thought we got better in each set, which was good to see. We started off a little shaky serving and passing in that first set, and then down in the second set – but from that point on I thought we played really clean volleyball.

Colorado led the match in all categories. The Buffs out-hit (43-31) out-dug (40-33), out-blocked (5-4) and out-aced (7-3) the Bulldogs. Fresno State was held to .067 hitting in the first set and .149 overall by the Buffaloes.

KEY PLAYERS:

Jr. PIN Ana Burilovic led the match in kills with 18, hitting .400. She also had eight digs, two aces, one block and one assist.
So. MB Maria Splawska recorded a career-high seven kills, hitting .636 (0e, 11att), another career-high. She also recorded two blocks and one assist.
Sr. S Rian Finley matched her career-high 38 assists. She also saw five digs.
Jr. MB Cayla Payne led the match in blocks with three, including one solo block. She also had five kills and one dig.
Jr. PIN Sydney Jordan saw six kills, six digs, one ace, one block and one assist.
Jr. PIN Lily Dwinell recorded seven kills, hitting .462 (1e, 13 att), three digs and one block.
Jr. DS/L Peyton Neal tied the match high in digs with 10. She also scored two aces for the Buffs.
Jr. DS/L Avery Bolles and Fr. PIN Inés Losada each had an ace.
Sr. DS/L Sarah Morton saw seven digs.
MAHONEY ON EFFICIENCY: "Ball-handling was good. We also had several long serving runs, and it's nice to have two or three servers that can really disrupt the other side. When you're getting easy transition balls back because the other team is out of system, it's easier to run some offense."
For the Bulldogs, Addison Haluska recorded 15 kills, six digs and two aces. Olivia Lombardi saw 10 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Colorado Buffaloes saw a slower start to the first set, going back and forth with the Bulldogs (5-5). Back-to-back kills from Jordan put the Buffs in the lead (7-5, CU). Fresno State responded with a three-point run, but a block from Splawska kept the game tied (8-8). The Black and Gold went on their own 3-0 run after the eighth tie of the set (13-10, CU). A kill from Jordan forced Fresno State to call their first timeout of the match (18-14, CU). Four unanswered points caused CU to take their first timeout (18-18). A service error from the Bulldogs and an ace from Losada put the Buffaloes back in the lead (20-19, CU). The Buffs and the Bulldogs went back and forth till the end of the set, but Colorado dug deep and won the first set 25-23.
CU opened the second set with a quick kill from Burilovic, followed by a Dwinell-Splawska block (2-0, CU). Fresno State tied the game, but a Jordan kill, assisted by Finley, put the Buffs back in front (7-6, CU). The Bulldogs went on a short run, causing the Black and Gold to take their first timeout of the set (14-10, FSU). A 4-0 run from CU saw kills from Dwinell and Burilovic, and an ace from Neal (15-15). The Black and Gold went on another run, causing Fresno State to call a timeout (18-16, CU). After returning to the court, Burilovic scored her second ace of the 4-0 run (19-16, CU). The Bulldogs called their last timeout, but the Buffaloes couldn't be stopped, as they took the second set (25-18).
The Black and Gold went on an early nine-point run to start the third set (10-2, CU). Back-to-back kills from Burilovic and Jordan continued the momentum for the Buffs (12-3, CU). A 3-0 run from Colorado caused Fresno State to call a timeout, but the Buffaloes continued their run for a 10-point lead over the Bulldogs (18-8, CU). Back-to-back kills from Burilovic put the Buff's score at double Fresno State's (20-10, CU). An ace from Bolles put the Buffs within three-points of the win (22-10, CU). With final kills from Dwinell and Payne, Colorado took the final set, 25-13.

UP NEXT

The Buffaloes continue their stint in Irvine this weekend with a matchup against Pennsylvania (UPenn) on Friday, Sept. 5. First serve is set for 5 p.m. MT. The match will not be streamed, but fans can follow along via live stats links on CUBuffs.com.

MATCH NOTES:

The Buffs take the lead in the series, now leading 2-1 against Fresno State all-time.
The Buffaloes got their fourth 3-0 victory of the season and are 4-0 in three-set matches.
Colorado had more kills (43-31), assists (42-29), blocks (5-4) and service aces (7-3) than Fresno State.

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.

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Team Stats

Ana Burilović

Lily Dwinell

Maria Spławska

Sydney Jordan

Players Mentioned

Avery Bolles

Lily Dwinell

Rian Finley

Sydney Jordan

Sarah Morton

Peyton Neal

Cayla Payne

Players Mentioned

Avery Bolles

Lily Dwinell

Rian Finley

Sydney Jordan

Sarah Morton

Peyton Neal

Cayla Payne