Volleyball Preps For K-State
ON TAP: Colorado (12-8, 8-5 Big 12) will host Kansas State (9-14, 1-12 Big 12) at the Coors Events Center on Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.
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 12-8 overall and 8-5 in the Big 12. The Buffs are currently tied for fourth with Missouri in the league standings.
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 and Nebraska. The Buffs finished the first half of the Big 12 schedule with a win over Baylor.
CU started the second half of the Big 12 season off with a sweep of Texas Tech and then a five-game win over Texas A&M before falling to No. 8 Texas in three.
Senior Ashley NuGÇÖu has tallied 840 assists to average 12.17 per game, which ranks sixth in the Big 12. In league only matches, she is averaging 12.35 assists, which is fifth. Freshman Kaitlyn Burkett made her collegiate debut with one game against Florida. She has seen action in eight games this season, dishing out 33 assists to average 4.25 per game. Thanks to the direction of NuGÇÖu and Burkett, the Buffs are hitting .230 on the season; sixth in the league. In conference matches, CU is hitting .228, which also ranks sixth.
Colorado has averaged 15.16 kills per game this season, which ranks fifth. Junior Amber Sutherland leads CU with 4.41 kills per game, which is good for third in the league. Sutherland is averaging 4.65 in Big 12 contests for second. Sophomore Mallori Gibson adds 3.08 kpg and is averaging a team best 0.31 aces per game.
On the right side, sophomore Alex Buth is averaging 1.93 kills per game. Buth is also averaging 2.01 digs and 0.59 blocks per game, while hitting .179.
The Buffalo middles have been taking care of business in 2006. Senior Lara Bossow has averaged 2.08 kills per game. She adds 0.75 blocks per game and is hitting at .264. Sophomore Lauren Schaefer adds a team-high 0.79 blocks per game, along with 2.35 kpg. She is hitting .331 overall (ninth in the Big 12) and .353 in league contests (third). Senior Austin Zimmerman has recorded 1.88 kpg and is hitting .341 (eighth in the Big 12). Zimmerman is fourth in league only matches at .348.
Junior transfer Kristen Karlik ranks first for the Buffs with 4.06 digs per game and ranks sixth in the league. She has also added 14 aces, including two against then-fifth-ranked Florida. Sophomore transfer Callie Webster has picked up 125 digs on the year to average 1.92 dpg in 65 games.
In other conference only matches statistics, the Buffs are third in aces (1.39), sixth in assists (14.27), seventh in kills (15.16) and seventh in opponent hitting percentage (.234).
ABOUT THE WILDCATS: Kansas State owns a 9-14 overall and 1-12 Big 12 record. The Wildcats are currently 11th in the league and are on a three-match losing streak. The Wildcats have won one of their last 14 matches; however, they have gone to five-games in six of those matches.
Sandy Werner leads the Wildcats with 3.51 kills per game while hitting .175. She tacks on an additional 1.52 digs and 0.54 blocks per game.
Tiffany Johnson and Megan Kroeker recorded 2.77 and 2.61 kpg, respectively. Megan Farr leds the team with a .322 hitting percentage.
Stacey Spiegelberg is averaging 12.24 assists per game. She has dished out 1,089 on the season, helping KSU to a .216 attack percentage. The Wildcats average 14.98 kills per game.
Angie Lastra has 410 digs on the season to average 4.61 per game. Lauren Rosenthal adds 2.80 and Jenny Jantsch tallies 2.57. KSU averages 15.82 digs per game.
THE SERIES: Colorado is 24-16 in the series against Kansas State. The Buffs are 3-7 in the last 10 meetings with the Wildcats, which includes a three-game victory for CU in Manhattan, Kansas on Oct. 7.
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 174-112. 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 116-77 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 8-11 against the Wildcats.
WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME: Colorado blanked Kansas State 31-29, 30-28, 34-32 on Saturday, 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.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Colorado dropped a three-game match to No. 8 Texas, 21-30, 30-32, 22-30, on Saturday night at the Coors Events Center in front of a season-high crowd of 1,408. Amber Sutherland led CU with 16 kills and Mallori Gibson had 10 kills.
The Buffs hit .193 on the night, recording just 45 kills. Texas hit .325 with 55 kills. Lauren Schaefer added eight kills and Alex Buth tallied six. The Longhorns were led by Ashley Engle with 15 kills. Engle left the match in the second game due to an injury, but came back in the third.
With the loss, CU falls to 12-8 overall and 8-5 in the Big 12. The Buffs are currently tied for fourth in the Big 12 standings with No. 16 Missouri. CU also fell to 8-3 at the Coors Events Center.
Texas held CU to a .054 attack percentage in the first game. The Buffs recorded 12 kills but also recorded 10 errors on 37 swings. The Longhorns hit 15 kills and just five errors on 39 attacks. Sutherland led CU in the game with five kills and four digs.
Colorado led for most of the second game, but was unable to close it out as UT won 32-30. Gibson hammered eight kills and Sutherland tallied seven as the Buffs collected 22 kills and hit .378.
In the third game, CU struggled out of the gate. CU hit .108 with 11 kills. Sutherland recorded four kills, while Gibson and Schaefer added a pair each.
Colorado picked up 35 digs in the match, 12 coming from Callie Webster. Sutherland missed another double-double with seven digs.
BRING OUT THE BROOMS: The Buffs swept the season series against Texas A&M for the first time in school history. CU defeated A&M in three games on Sept. 27 in Boulder and completed the sweep on Oct. 25 with a five-game thriller. The win also marked the second straight season the Buffs have defeated the Aggies on their home court.
THREE GAMES OR FIVE: Colorado has only played three and five-game matches this season. The Buffs have yet to play a four game match with eight matches left in the regular season.
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.
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, filled 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 8-2 at home and is 4-1 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...CU rallied from a 1-2 deficit to defeat Baylor on Oct. 18 in Waco, Texas...The Buffs swept the 2006 season series against Texas A&M for the first time in school history.
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. 8. Oklahoma moved up to 17th and Missouri fell to 21st.
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 196-68 all time at the CECC for a winning percentage of .744. CU is 8-3 at the CECC this season.
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 384-243, 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.
