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Match thread - Volleyball faces So. Carolina in NCAA 1st round match-up (Friday, 11/30, 3:30 PM MT)
- Thread starter AztecBuff
- Start date
Heartbreaker.
Team showed a lot of heart- just a couple (CLOSE to good) hitting errors probably the difference (most obvious anyways) in the 5th set. Congrats to USC.
Thanks SO MUCH to the great seniors- Abu, Carta-Samuels and Alexa Smith. Hope all goes well throughout their lives. Hope the rest of the team enjoys a little (athletic) break, then starts working to be even better next season.
Team showed a lot of heart- just a couple (CLOSE to good) hitting errors probably the difference (most obvious anyways) in the 5th set. Congrats to USC.
Thanks SO MUCH to the great seniors- Abu, Carta-Samuels and Alexa Smith. Hope all goes well throughout their lives. Hope the rest of the team enjoys a little (athletic) break, then starts working to be even better next season.
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Lost so many heartbreakers like this in 2018. Evenly matched teams and we just couldn't get over that hump.
I give a lot of credit for finding a way to get into the tournament this year. One of those years where things don't quite click but the team finds a way to still be good even if not what they'd hoped for. Program's in good shape.
I give a lot of credit for finding a way to get into the tournament this year. One of those years where things don't quite click but the team finds a way to still be good even if not what they'd hoped for. Program's in good shape.
Article on today's season ending match-
Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2018/11/30/volleyball-buffaloes-fall-short-against-south-carolina.aspx
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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The University of Colorado women's volleyball team found itself on the wrong end of a tight five-set match (34-32, 19-25, 25-12, 13-25, 15-13) against South Carolina Friday evening in Minneapolis, Minn., losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
A 4-2 run from the Gamecocks (20-9, 10-8 SEC) after a 10-8 score in favor of CU (18-14, 10-10 Pac-12) ended up being the difference in the back-and-forth match. After a pair of blocks to notch the final set at 10 apiece, USC went on a 4-1 run with three kills to move to match-point with the score at 14-12. An Alexa Smith kill put the ball back into the serving hand of Colorado, but a tip from All-SEC middle Mikayla Robinson made its way over the block and off of Danielle Price's extended hands to push South Carolina to the second round after not appearing in the big dance for the past 16 seasons.
"Frustrating way to end the year, felt like it was a match that could go either way," said coach Jesse Mahoney. "Two of those five sets hinged on a play here-or-there and we couldn't get it done and South Carolina did. That's what makes the sports so exciting. A five-set match in the NCAA Tournament is what we do this for. I thought both sides played at a really high level. I thought there was a lot of energy and passion and a lot of ups and downs for both teams. Speaking of our team, I thought we fought from the first serve to the end. I couldn't have asked for more from each one of our players. We wanted to do the right things and we competed at a high level, just didn't quite work out at the end. It was a fun match to be a part of even though we lost, some of the young players on this team will look back and hopefully this will be a springboard for the rest of their careers."
The serve and receive aspects of the match were the keys to the Gamecock victory. South Carolina had three services aces in the first set that featured a lot of offense and little defense. They matched that performance in the third set and finished the match with nine total aces. Libero Aubrey Ezell showed why she is third in the nation in total aces this season, putting down five in the match and disrupting the Colorado offense numerous occasions.
"That third set where we couldn't pass at all," said Mahoney. "They have several players with really nice jump serves, two of them were left-handed so that was a new look for us that we hadn't seen. When we felt like we had a hang of it we lost it again. It certainly affected us in set one when we got aced three times and that was the set there. In set three we couldn't get in system, I felt like when we were in system we were scoring points, we just struggled to stay in system."
The matchup of two of the better hitting teams in the nation was apparent with South Carolina hitting greater than .400 in the first two sets they won and .308 in the final set. Vis-versa, CU hit .340 in the first set, .385 in the second and .444 in the fourth.
"We hit over .300, almost .400 for three of those sets," said Mahoney. "When we didn't do that in the sets where we hit .056 and .103 we simply just weren't in system. I thought Jenna did a really nice job when she had the ball in her hands. We set with tempo, we were scoring really well. On the flip side, when we couldn't get them out of system they have a really nice setter and pieces and we didn't defend very well. Took both teams 32 points to play defense, both teams hit .400 for the first set and then it became more of a match. Our passing woes had more to do with their serving game, they disrupted us there."
...
"I'm very proud of our team and our program," said Mahoney. "This is a team that started the year returning five starters from a Sweet 16 appearance and ended the year with only two of those starters on the floor. We had a lot of young players step up. We finished with four freshmen on the floor so we are excited for the future. We lose three seniors, all three were instrumental to the success this program has had the last couple years. Alexa Smith, an All-American with more than 1,000 kills in three year and just an overall team leader, Naghede Abu, who is our all-time block leader, and Gabby Carta-Samuels who played a huge role her junior year before she got injury. We are going to miss them."
Colorado finishes the season with an 18-14 record, including a 10-10 record in the Pac-12. This is the first time since 2005 and 2006 that the Buffaloes have finished with an overall winning record, .500 or better conference record and made it to the post season.
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Box score - https://cubuffs.com/boxscore.aspx?path=wvball&id=12716
Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2018/11/30/volleyball-buffaloes-fall-short-against-south-carolina.aspx
"
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The University of Colorado women's volleyball team found itself on the wrong end of a tight five-set match (34-32, 19-25, 25-12, 13-25, 15-13) against South Carolina Friday evening in Minneapolis, Minn., losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
A 4-2 run from the Gamecocks (20-9, 10-8 SEC) after a 10-8 score in favor of CU (18-14, 10-10 Pac-12) ended up being the difference in the back-and-forth match. After a pair of blocks to notch the final set at 10 apiece, USC went on a 4-1 run with three kills to move to match-point with the score at 14-12. An Alexa Smith kill put the ball back into the serving hand of Colorado, but a tip from All-SEC middle Mikayla Robinson made its way over the block and off of Danielle Price's extended hands to push South Carolina to the second round after not appearing in the big dance for the past 16 seasons.
"Frustrating way to end the year, felt like it was a match that could go either way," said coach Jesse Mahoney. "Two of those five sets hinged on a play here-or-there and we couldn't get it done and South Carolina did. That's what makes the sports so exciting. A five-set match in the NCAA Tournament is what we do this for. I thought both sides played at a really high level. I thought there was a lot of energy and passion and a lot of ups and downs for both teams. Speaking of our team, I thought we fought from the first serve to the end. I couldn't have asked for more from each one of our players. We wanted to do the right things and we competed at a high level, just didn't quite work out at the end. It was a fun match to be a part of even though we lost, some of the young players on this team will look back and hopefully this will be a springboard for the rest of their careers."
The serve and receive aspects of the match were the keys to the Gamecock victory. South Carolina had three services aces in the first set that featured a lot of offense and little defense. They matched that performance in the third set and finished the match with nine total aces. Libero Aubrey Ezell showed why she is third in the nation in total aces this season, putting down five in the match and disrupting the Colorado offense numerous occasions.
"That third set where we couldn't pass at all," said Mahoney. "They have several players with really nice jump serves, two of them were left-handed so that was a new look for us that we hadn't seen. When we felt like we had a hang of it we lost it again. It certainly affected us in set one when we got aced three times and that was the set there. In set three we couldn't get in system, I felt like when we were in system we were scoring points, we just struggled to stay in system."
The matchup of two of the better hitting teams in the nation was apparent with South Carolina hitting greater than .400 in the first two sets they won and .308 in the final set. Vis-versa, CU hit .340 in the first set, .385 in the second and .444 in the fourth.
"We hit over .300, almost .400 for three of those sets," said Mahoney. "When we didn't do that in the sets where we hit .056 and .103 we simply just weren't in system. I thought Jenna did a really nice job when she had the ball in her hands. We set with tempo, we were scoring really well. On the flip side, when we couldn't get them out of system they have a really nice setter and pieces and we didn't defend very well. Took both teams 32 points to play defense, both teams hit .400 for the first set and then it became more of a match. Our passing woes had more to do with their serving game, they disrupted us there."
...
"I'm very proud of our team and our program," said Mahoney. "This is a team that started the year returning five starters from a Sweet 16 appearance and ended the year with only two of those starters on the floor. We had a lot of young players step up. We finished with four freshmen on the floor so we are excited for the future. We lose three seniors, all three were instrumental to the success this program has had the last couple years. Alexa Smith, an All-American with more than 1,000 kills in three year and just an overall team leader, Naghede Abu, who is our all-time block leader, and Gabby Carta-Samuels who played a huge role her junior year before she got injury. We are going to miss them."
Colorado finishes the season with an 18-14 record, including a 10-10 record in the Pac-12. This is the first time since 2005 and 2006 that the Buffaloes have finished with an overall winning record, .500 or better conference record and made it to the post season.
"
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Box score - https://cubuffs.com/boxscore.aspx?path=wvball&id=12716