Colorado University Athletics
Volleyball Preps For Iowa State
ON TAP: Colorado (9-5, 5-2 Big 12) returns home to host the Iowa State Cyclones (11-6, 3-4 Big 12) on Wed., Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. at the Coors Events Center. The Buffs will then head to Lincoln, Neb. to face top-ranked Nebraska on Sat., Oct. 14 at 6 p.m.
All home contests can be viewed over the Internet at CUBuffs.com through the webstreaming by BuffVision, as well as live stats which can be followed during the match.
WELCOME BACK: Colorado Assistant Coach Jil Thomason will sit on the bench for the first time on Wed., Oct. 11, since taking a maturnity leave at the end of August.
ABOUT THE BUFFS: Colorado is 9-5 overall and 5-2 in the Big 12. CU started the year off with a victory against Denver, but fell to three top-10 teams in then #10 UCLA, #7 HawaiGÇÖi and #5 Florida at the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic. The Buffs bounced back with three straight sweeps at the Colorado Invitational to finish the nonconference schedule above .500 for the 18th straight season.
Colorado started the conference season with a huge win over the 17th-ranked Mizzou Tigers. The Buffs won in five games on their home court. CU extended its win streak to five as the Buffs swept Texas Tech on the road.
The Buffs recorded their first conference loss against No. 5 Texas, but came back with a five-game win against Kansas. CU also recorded a three-game win over Texas A&M before falling to Oklahoma to land at 4-2. The Buffs came back with a win on the road against K-State for the first time since Nov. 13, 1999.
Senior Ashley NuGÇÖu has tallied 567 assists to average 12.06 per game, which ranks sixth in the Big 12. In league only matches, she is averaging 12.30 assists. Freshman Kaitlyn Burkett made her collegiate debut with one game against Florida. She has seen action in six games this season, dishing out 33 assists to average 5.50 per game. Thanks to the direction of NuGÇÖu and Burkett, the Buffs are hitting .244 on the season; fourth in the league. In conference matches, CU is hitting slightly higher at .252, which ranks fourth.
Colorado has averaged 15.96 kills per game this season, which ranks fourth. Junior Amber Sutherland leads CU with 4.40 kills per game, which is good for third in the league. Sutherland is averaging 4.81 in Big 12 contests for second . Sophomore Mallori Gibson adds 3.33 kpg and is averaging a team best 0.40 aces per game, which ranks fifth in the league.
On the right side, sophomore Alex Buth is averaging 1.79 kills per game. Buth is also averaging 2.04 digs and 0.62 blocks per game.
The Buffalo middles have been taking care of business in 2006. Senior Lara Bossow has averaged 2.18 kills per game. She adds 0.79 blocks per game and is hitting at .291. Sophomore Lauren Schaefer has averaged a team-best 0.82 blocks per game, along with 2.10 kills. She is hitting .326 overall (10th in the Big 12) and .367 in league contests (sixth). Senior Austin Zimmerman has recorded 1.95 kpg and is hitting .380 (sixth in the Big 12). Zimmerman is second in league only matches at .429.
Junior transfer Kristen Karlik ranks first for the Buffs with 3.92 digs per game and ranks sixth in the league. She has also added 11 aces, including two against then-fifth-ranked Florida. Sophomore transfer Callie Webster has picked up 65 digs on the year to average 1.51 dpg in 43 games.
In other conference only matches statistics, the Buffs are fifth in assists (14.44), fifth in kills (15.30), sixth in opponent hitting percentage (.226) and are fourth in aces with 1.59.
ABOUT THE CYCLONES: Iowa State finished its non-conference season with an 8-2 record, falling only to Michigan and then No. 20 San Diego. Since then, the Cyclones have collected a 3-4 record in the Big 12. They are 1-3 on their home court and 2-1 on the road.
ISU ranks ninth in hitting percentage in league at .221, but is second in opponent hitting percentage; holding the other team to .140.
Kaylee Manns has averaged 12.55 assists per game to direct the offense. She also ranks third on the team with 3.36 digs per game.
Erin Boeve, the AVCA/Sports Imports National Player of the Week for last week, helps to drive the ISU offense. She has averaged 3.27 kills (193) and hits at a .294 clip. Boeve also adds a team-high 1.73 blocks per game.
Kate Jessen leads the Cyclones with 3.65 kills per game, adding 2.40 digs, 0.56 blocks and hitting .189.
ISU tops the Big 12 in blocking, averaging 3.48 per game. Assisting Boeve in the blocking duties is Jessica Klein (1.43). Boeve tops the Big 12, while Klein ranks sixth.
The Cyclones currently sit at sixth in the league standings, one below the Buffs, althought CU has a two match lead.
THE SERIES: Colorado owns a commanding lead in the series against Iowa State at 38-8. Prior to the beginning of the 2005 season, the Buffs had an 18-match win streak against the Cyclones. ISU defeated the Buffs in Ames to snap the streak, but CU won the contest at the CECC to split the series.
Of the 46 matches played between the two schools, 32 have been decided in three games and only six have gone to five games.
Iowa State has not won a match in Boulder in 19 years. The Cyclones last victory cam on Oct. 24, 1987.
A DECADE WITH PIGÇÖI AIU: PiGÇÖi Aiu (pronounced P-E I-U) begins his 10th season as ColoradoGÇÖs head coach sporting a career record of 172-109. The 1997 Big 12 and District V Coach of the Year, Aiu has led the Buffs to eight NCAA Tournaments in nine seasons, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 1997. Under his guidance, the Buffs have sported three All-Americans, 10 All-Region, and 21 All-Big 12 performers. Aiu has been involved in the Colorado volleyball program in some capacity since its inception in 1986.
Aiu, who has led the Buffs to a 113-74 record in Big 12 matches, is joined on the bench this season by seventh-year assistant Jil Thomason and third-year assistant and USA Olympian, Erik Sullivan.
Aiu is 17-1 against Iowa State and owns a 51-7 advantage in games. AiuGÇÖs only loss to the Cyclones came on Sept. 28, 2005 in Ames.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Colorado blanked Kansas State 31-29, 30-28, 34-32 on Sat., Oct. 7 at the Ahern Field House in Manhattan, Kan. The Buffs needed extra points to secure the win in two of the three games.
It is the first win for Colorado on K-StateGÇÖs home court since Nov. 2, 1999 when the Buffs won in five games. The win for CU kept K-State looking for its first Big 12 victory in 2006. The Wildcats are currently on an eight-match losing streak.
Junior Amber Sutherland exploded in the second game with eight of her 18 kills. She hit .146 on 48 attempts with 11 errors. Colorado hit .206 in the match and held KSU to .189. The Buffaloes notched 52 kills on 136 swings. CU recorded 24 errors, but KSU put up 11.5 blocks. The Wildcats notched 46 kills on the night with 21 errors on 132 attacks.
Senior Ashley NuGÇÖu handed out 40 assists and recorded six kills of her own for a .385 attack percentage. Senior Austin Zimmerman recorded a match-high .500 with five kills on 10 swings. Sophomore Alex Buth was the only other Buff to hit above .300 with nine kills on 19 attacks (.316).
Junior Kristen Karlik picked up a match-best 17 digs, averaging 5.67 per game. Buth added nine and sophomore Callie Webster notched eight. NuGÇÖu and Sutherland each recorded seven. In total, CU tallied 55 digs, 10 more than the Wildcats.
Zimmerman and NuGÇÖu each put up four block assists and sophomore Lauren Schaefer notched a pair. The Buffs tallied 6.5 blocks in the match, all coming from block assists.
Colorado was also serving well, averaging 2.00 aces per game. Zimmerman and Buth each smoked two past the Wildcats and NuGÇÖu and Sutherland added the other two.
TAKING THE LITTLE APPLE: Colorado won its first match in Manhattan, Kan., since Nov. 3, 1999. It was also the first three-game victory over the Wildcats in Kansas since Nov. 19, 1994.
ITGÇÖS TV TIME: The Saturday, Oct. 28 match against Texas at the Coors Events Center will be televised live on Fox Sports Net-Rocky Mountain. The match has a 7 p.m. start time.
OFF TO A GOOD START: Colorado currently owns a 5-2 record in the Big 12 Conference. The best start for CU in recent history came in 2001 when the Buffs started with a 7-2 record before finishing the first half of the Big 12 schedule with a 7-3 record. CU finished the season at 13-7 in the Big 12, placing fourth.
SUPER STAR: Amber Sutherland recorded a career-high 35 kills against No. 17 Missouri on Sept. 13. It was the third-most kills any CU player has recorded in a match (the most being 40 by Sarah Lodge in 1997). Sutherland also hit at a clip of .397, added four assists, four block assists and 14 digs. Only five other Buffs have hit 30 or more kills in a match. Sarah Lodge did it twice (40 and 36), as did Karrie Downey (34 twice). They are joined by current AVP standout Rachel Wacholder (32), Staci Wolfe (31) and Tina Murray (30). Sutherland
was also named Big 12 Player of the Week for her efforts.
BIG 12 OPENERS: The Buffs have won four of its five last Big 12 openers; including one in 2004 against No. 15 Kansas State. The only Big 12 opener CU has dropped in the last five years was in 2005 against No. 18 Texas in Austin.
A THREE-GAME RECORD: Colorado set a school record for hitting percentage in a three-game match against Central Connecticut State at .528 at the Colorado Invitational on Sept. 8. The Buffs recorded 56 kills on 89 swings and committed just nine errors. It is also the highest hitting percentage recorded in a match for CU.