Colorado University Athletics
Volleyball Set to Face Top-Ranked Nebraska
ON TAP: Colorado (9-6, 5-3 Big 12) heads to Lincoln, Neb., on Sat., Oct. 14, to take on top-ranked Nebraska (16-0, 8-0 Big 12). The match has been changed to a 2 p.m. start time, instead of the original 6 p.m. time.
All home contests can be watched over the Internet at CUBuffs.com through the webstreaming by BuffVision, as well as live stats which can be followed during the match.
ABOUT THE BUFFS: Colorado is 9-6 overall and 5-3 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 then-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, before falling to Iowa State at home.
Senior Ashley NuGÇÖu has tallied 602 assists to average 12.04 per game, which ranks sixth in the Big 12. In league only matches, she is averaging 12.23 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 .245, which ranks third.
Colorado has averaged 15.98 kills per game this season, which ranks fifth. Junior Amber Sutherland leads CU with 4.27 kills per game, which is good for fourth in the league. Sutherland is averaging 4.57 in Big 12 contests for fourth. Sophomore Mallori Gibson adds 3.33 kpg and is averaging a team best 0.38 aces per game, which ranks sixth in the league.
On the right side, sophomore Alex Buth is averaging 1.80 kills per game. Buth is also averaging 2.02 digs and 0.62 blocks per game.
The Buffalo middles have been taking care of business in 2006. Senior Lara Bossow has averaged 2.24 kills per game. She adds a team-high 0.81 blocks per game and is hitting at .283. Sophomore Lauren Schaefer is tied with Bossow for the team-high with 0.81 blocks per game, along with 2.24 kills. She is hitting .341 overall (seventh in the Big 12) and .383 in league contests (fourth). Senior Austin Zimmerman has recorded 1.95 kpg and is hitting .380 (fifth in the Big 12). Zimmerman is first in league only matches at .429.
Junior transfer Kristen Karlik ranks first for the Buffs with 3.90 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 71 digs on the year to average 1.54 dpg in 46 games.
In other conference only matches statistics, the Buffs are fourth in assists (14.53), fifth in kills (15.40), eighth in opponent hitting percentage (.262) and are fourth in aces with 1.47.
ABOUT THE HUSKERS: Nebraska is the top-ranked team in the country, according to the CSTV/AVCA Division I Coaches Poll. The Huskers have held that spot since the preseason poll came out in August.
NU is undefeated, having won all 16 contests in 2006. All but three of the victories have been sweeps. The other three went four games.
The Huskers lost the 2006 AVCA National Player of the Year, Christina Houghtelling to an injury in July, but they still return many weapons from last yearGÇÖs NCAA runner-up finish.
Sarah Pavan, the 2006 Big 12 Player of the Year, leads the Huskers with 5.29 kills per game and hits .325. Jordan Larson adds 4.33 kills (.293).
NU has collected a .302 attack percentage on the season, in part to Rachel Holloway. Holloway has recorded 641 assists (13.35 apg) and ranks third in the league. The Huskers have also amassed a league-leading 17.36 kills per game.
Pavan has put up 1.20 blocks per game this season. Tracy Stalls and Amanda Gates are also averaging about 1.0 blocks per game with 1.43 and 1.24, respectively. As a team, NU records 3.11 per game, fourth in the Big 12.
Dani Busboom has picked up 5.18 digs per game as the Huskers also lead the Big 12 in that catergory with 18.36 dpg. Busboom ranks second overall. Larson has added 3.82 and Holloway has tacked on an additional 2.90 digs.
THE SERIES: Nebraska owns the lead in the series at 40-5. The Huskers have won the last 16 matches. ColoradoGÇÖs last victory against NU was on Oct. 28, 1997. The Buffs sweep the Huskers 15-4, 15-13, 15-12.
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 172-110. 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 113-75 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 2-16 against Nebraska. The Buffs won the first two meetings against the Huskers in 1997 after Aiu took over the program, but have been unable to defeat NU since.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: The University of Colorado dropped its second straight home match to Iowa State 20-30, 25-30, 27-30. Sophomore Lauren Schaefer was the BuffGÇÖs saving grace with a team-high 12 kills with .476 hitting percentage.
The loss was just the second at home for the Buffs who own a 7-2 record at the Coors Events Center.
The win for ISU was the first victory in 19 years in Boulder and the first win for the Cyclones at the Coors Events Center. The last time ISU defeated the Buffs was on Oct. 24, 1987 when CU played in the Balch Fieldhouse.
Colorado hit just .188 in the match, in part to ISUGÇÖs Big 12 leading block. The Cyclones put up 11.0 blocks; accounting for almost half of CUGÇÖs hitting errors. The Buffs recorded 49 kills on 133 attacks. Besides the 12 kills from Schaefer, Mallori Gibson tallied 10 kills. Ashley NuGÇÖu handed out 35 assists in the loss.
Kristen Karlik picked up a team-high 11 digs. Ashley NuGÇÖu added eight and Callie Webster and Amber Sutherland each recorded six. CU collected just 43 digs.
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.
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.
THE NEWEST BUFFS: The Colorado volleyball coaching staff recently had two additions in the month of August. On Friday, August 11, Erik and Amanda Sullivan welcomed a baby boy, Cade Kian. The SullivansGÇÖ also have a daughter, Shaye (4). Jil and Chance Thomason added a baby girl, Matilda Jane, to their family on Thursday, August 31. She joins sisters Isabel (5) and Josephine (3).
A HELPING HAND: Andy Klussmann, a veteran volleyball coach, will be filling in for Colorado assistant coach Jil Thomason while she is on maturnity leave. Klussmann was the second assistant coach at Colorado State University from 2000-04. During that time, he was responsible for working with the middle blockers, travel, recruiting and scouting.
Klussmann played volleyball at UCLA from 1983-86 and helped the Bruins win back-to-back national championships in 1983-84. In 1984, the team went 38-0 enroute to the championship.
Klussmann has found his way back to coaching after making a remarkable recovery from a tragic car accident in 2004 that claimed his wife JannaGÇÖs life. This past club season, he coached the Norco 17 Black team. As for joining the Colorado volleyball team, Klussmann says, "IGÇÖm having a great time."
Klussmann has two stepchildren, Sarah and Seth and two young sons, Drew and Jackson and resides in Fort Collins, Colo.
BUFF BITS: Austin Zimmerman averaged 6.00 digs in the season opener against DU...CU played to a crowd of 7,071 against HawaiGÇÖi (9/2) in Honolulu...Alex Buth was the lone CU representative on the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic All-Tournament Team... Freshman Kaitlyn Burkett made her collegiate debut against #5 Florida and added seven assists and two kills...Ashley NuGÇÖu was named the Colorado Invitational All-Tournament Team MVP...Kristen Karlik and Amber Sutherland were also named to the team...Lauren Schaefer and Ashley NuGÇÖu recorded zero errors against Cincinnati (9/7). Schaefer hammered 11 kills on 16 swings (.688) and NuGÇÖu tallied six kills on nine swings (.667)...Kristen Karlik became the first Buff to record more that 20 digs in a match since 2003 with 21 against Cincinnati (9/7)...CU hit a school-record .528 hitting percentage in a three-game match against Central Connecticut State (9/8)...Seven Buffs hit above .400 against CCSU, with four hitting above .600...Kaitlyn Burkett dished out 17 assists in two games against CCSU (9/8)...The Buffs launched 10 aces against Southern Miss (9/9) for the first time since 2003...Amber Sutherland recorded 35 kills to become the sixth Buff to reach 30 or more kills in a match against Missouri (9/13). The 35 kills was the third highest total in school history...Kristen Karlik notched 26 digs against Mizzou, becoming the first Buff since 2003 to pick up 25 or more digs...The Buffs are on a five-match win streak...Amber Sutherland was named the Big 12 Conference Volleyball Player of the Week on Sept. 18...Mallori Gibson and Amber Sutherland each tallied 18 kills against Kansas (9/23)...Gibson was named the CU Athlete of the Week on Sept. 25...CU swept Texas A&M (9/27) for the first time since Nov. 11, 2000...Austin Zimmerman recorded 11 kill matches in back-to-back wins against Kansas (9/23) and Texas A&M (9/27)...Colorado is 7-1 at home and is 2-1 in five-game matches this season... The loss to OU in Boulder marked the first time CU has fallen to the Sooners on its home court since Oct. 13, 1988... Amber Sutherland recorded 25 kills against OU (9/30), recording the third-highest total in her career...CU recorded its first win in Manhattan, Kan., since Nov. 3, 1999 on Oct. 7...Amber Sutherland was the only Buff to reach double-figures in kills with 18 against KSU (10/7). Kristen Karlik was the only Buff with double-figures in digs at 17...Jil ThomasonGÇÖs first match back after maturnity leave was on Oct. 11 against ISU.
WHAT A SCHEDULE: The Big 12 continues to be one of the best conferences in the nation, boosting four teams in the 2006 CSTV/AVCA Division I Coaches Poll. Nebraska tops the poll for the second straight season, while Texas is the second-highest ranking Big 12 team at No. 10, followed by Missouri at 15th. Oklahoma moved up one spot from last weekGÇÖs poll to 24th. Colorado (11) and Baylor (3) are the only other Big 12 schools receiving points in the poll this week.
Colorado already faced Florida, HawaiGÇÖi and UCLA during the second week in the season. All three of those teams were ranked in the top-10.
COORS SWEET COORS: Colorado will call the Coors Events/Conference Center home for the 18th straight season. The Buffs are 195-67 all time at the CECC for a winning percentage of .744. CU is 7-2 at the CECC this season, which equals the 2005 total of home match victories.
21st SEASON: The 2006 season will be the 21st for the Colorado volleyball program. Since debuting as a varsity program in the fall of 1986, the Buffs have an overall record of 382-241, including one conference title (Big Eight in 1993). CU has advanced to 15 NCAA Tournaments in 19 years, 14 of which have come since 1991. The Buffs are one of only 15 NCAA Division I programs with at least 14 appearances since 1991.