Article on yesterday's 2nd win over Oklahoma-
Direct link -
https://cubuffs.com/news/2018/9/8/volleyball-buffs-finish-off-sooners-in-three.aspx
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BOULDER, Colo. — The University of Colorado women's volleyball team put down its second opponent of the day in the 2018 Buffs Invitational Saturday evening when the team swept (25-12, 26-24, 25-15) the University of Oklahoma. The team finishes the tournament with a 2-1 record and closing out the day with a pair of sweeps.
Redshirt freshman
Anyse Smith continued her dominating ways in the victory, leading the match with 14 kills while swinging a career-high .619. The last time a player hit 14 or more kills and .619 was
Naghede Abu during the same weekend last season. Smith had just five attack errors in the three matches this tournament, hitting an outstanding .523 with 39 kills.
Smith was not alone, as
Alexa Smith put up a dozen kills with a .323 hitting percentage and just a pair of errors.
Justine Spann added eight kills, while
Jenna Ewert led the team with 20 assists.
Brynna DeLuzio also had 14 assists and a pair of aces.
Also for the Buffs,
Lauren Dorrell added seven kills with a .429 hitting percentage and just a single attack error.
The offense was rolling today, finishing the match with a season-best .351 hitting percentage. The team also had a season-low 10 errors. The first set was one that will be remembered, as the team hit .542 and had a sideout percentage of 92, both season-bests. In 13 tries, the women succeeded to sideout on all but one occasion.
The defense also found its stride, putting up a dozen blocks. The only better performance was against Wyoming with 13, a match that went five sets. Lillie
Klemmer and
Alexa Smith anchored the front row with seven total blocks each. Smith had three solo blocks and four assists, while Klemmer had seven assists.
Anyse Smith also added three block assists.
In the back row, libero
Rachel Whipple averaged more than five digs per set for the first time this season with 16 digs. She tallied 31 total digs in just six sets today. Spann also added 10 digs.
QUOTABLES:
Head Coach Jesse Mahoney
On dominating the first set
Well we passed really well that first set. Exceptionally well. I think Oklahoma is a very good team and it just took them awhile to catch up to the speed of what we were doing offensively. I think we only had one hitting error in that first set maybe two, but we are going to win a lot of games with that low error. Pretty impressive. Unfortunately, we kind of let that slip in the beginning of set two and let Oklahoma have a little glimpse of hope, but it felt like by set three we were firing again.
On winning two games today in three sets
We needed it. I think last night was a pretty grueling match and sometimes it tough when you come out on the wrong side of it. It's sometimes hard to rebound and I thought we did a really nice job with putting that behind us, making some adjustments and getting better in this morning's match and then being on top of it in tonight's match. Both of those teams we played today were really good teams and to get sweeps its impressive and I'm happy with how we played. We talk about getting better every day and it felt like we got better every match this weekend and it's good to continue to improve because next week's going to be tough and then Pac-12 shows up on our doorstep.
Anyse Smith
On what was said by Coach to the women during the time out that sparked a comeback to win the set
He told us to settle down and play our own game and worry about what we were doing, and our technique will get us there.
On what sparked hitting .523 with 39 kills
I just love the game, and I feel like if you love something you should give it your all, all the time. We work hard in practice and I just want to make the people who believe in me proud, so I just go out and play.
Rachel Whipple
On performing well at home with 41 digs for the tournament
It feels amazing. Two years ago, coming into this program starting libero was only a dream and it's something I've worked hard every day at. Even playing at home in front of our fans and my family it's just an awesome feeling to perform well
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UP NEXT: The Buffs stay home next weekend as they host the Colorado Classic. The team kicks things off against Portland State Friday evening at 7 p.m. in the CU Events Center. Colorado will have a long Saturday with a double-header beginning at 10 a.m. against Indiana State, then closing out the tournament against Colorado State at 8 p.m.
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Box score -
https://cubuffs.com/boxscore.aspx?path=wvball&id=11332
