Matches Thread- #24 VOLLEYBALL travels to L.A. to face #16 UCLA (Friday, 10/8/21, 9:00 PM MT) and USC (Sunday, 2:00 PM MT)

[AztecBuff]

As with the soccer team, the #24 ranked CU VOLLEYBALL team (11-2, 2-2 in conference) is heading off to So. Cal. to face off against the L.A. schools, with the #16 Bruins (10-2, 3-1) match on tap later tomorrow (Friday) evening, followed up with a Sunday matinee against the Trojans (6-7, 2-2).

Both matches are scheduled to be available on live video, with Friday's match on the Pac 12 Networks, while Sunday's is to be provided via free live USC-provided stream.

Go Buffs!

Preview -


Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2021/10/6/volleyball-buffs-head-to-la-for-key-matchups.aspx

"
BOULDER – The University of Colorado women's volleyball team takes its No.24 ranking to Los Angeles for a top-25 matchup against No.16 UCLA Friday at 9 p.m MT, followed by a match against USC Sunday at 2 p.m. MT.

The Buffs (11-2, 2-2 Pac-12) are ranked 14th in the NCAA in RPI rankings, the second-best in the conference behind Utah at 13. They take on the Bruins (10-2, 3-1 Pac-12) who are led by Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week Mac May before going to USC (6-7, 2-2 Pac-12) where the Buffs have never won in the Galen Center.

Colorado is coming off a loss to No.11 Oregon in four sets before rebounding in a sweep of Oregon State. The team has turned to Maya Tabron and Jahara Campbell at outside and will have a full week of practice in the new system heading on the road.
...

SCOUTING THE BRUINS
Colorado and UCLA have traded wins in the last six matchups, including CU taking the last two wins in Pauley Pavillion. CU upset the ranked Bruins twice in that span as well. This season UCLA only has a five-set loss to San Diego on the road and a five-set reverse sweep loss to Washington in Seattle. They defeated USC in four sets to open the conference season, then topped Stanford in a reverse sweep five sets in Palo Alto. They also took down Washington State in Pullman in five sets.

The Bruins are 23rd in the nation in blocks per set and 39th in opponent hitting percentage. Mac May is second in the conference in kills and points per set, hitting 4.35 kills per set while hitting .243. Anna Dodson has 53 total blocks to lead the team while Zoe Fleck is averaging 4.06 digs per set.

SCOUTING THE TROJANS
Southern Cal has struggled this season with losses to Denver, Creighton, Kentucky, Hawaii, San Diego, UCLA and Washington. They do have a four-set win against Washington State in Pullman and a four-set win against Cal. USC is hitting .230 this season and allowing opponents to hit .197.

Brooke Botkin leads the team with 4.06 kills per set while hitting .249. Setter Raquel Lazaro is also a dangerous server with .40 aces per set and 19 total this season. The defense is spread out with three individuals with 25 or more blocks this season and three with 100 or more digs.
"
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More on the opponents -

UCLA:
Roster - https://uclabruins.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster
Stats - https://uclabruins.com/documents/2021/10/3/Report_Book_3_.pdf?path=wvball . EDIT - Direct link to live stats - http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=362919
Schedule/ results for this season - https://uclabruins.com/sports/womens-volleyball/schedule/2021
Their preview article for the match with the Buffs - Not available as I type this.

USC:
Roster - https://usctrojans.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster?path=wvball
Stats - https://usctrojans.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats?path=wvball
Schedule/ results for this season - https://usctrojans.com/sports/womens-volleyball/schedule/2021
Their preview article for the match with the Buffs - https://usctrojans.com/news/2021/10...ins-schools-in-first-pac-12-home-matches.aspx
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Media links:

Matches notes - https://cubuffs.com/documents/2021/10/5/Match_Notes_UCLA_USC.pdf
(As I type this, looks like it may (???) still be a draft, as some of the notes look to be outdated.)

For UCLA match:
Link to link to eventual live stats - http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=ucla

Live Video - Match is scheduled to be shown live on the Pac 12 L.A. and National channels. For those whose Cable/ Satellite/ Cord Cutting subscription includes access to any of those Pac 12 channels, assume it can also be streamed through a link at https://pac-12.com/womens-volleyball/event/2021/10/08/colorado-ucla.

Live Audio - Looks like UCLA also provides an audio broadcast that should be available at https://ucla.leanplayer.com/ .

For USC match:
Live stats -

SIDEARMLiveStats

Real time live stats for your favorite team powered by SIDEARM Sports. One location for your team's Stat summaries, Individual stats, Team stats, Team leaders, Play by plays, Split Box scores and more.

usctrojans.com

Live Video - Free live stream is scheduled to be available at https://pac-12.com/live/usc .

 

[AztecBuff]

(Late) match day!

 

[AztecBuff]

 

[AztecBuff]

Match has begun. (It's 6-9 bruins in the 1st.)

 

[AztecBuff]

After soccer had problems in L.A. against #11 USC yesterday, volleyball doesn't have any more success against #11 UCLA this evening.

Going to have to shake this one off and get ready for a match against a quickly improving USC team.

 

[buffgal]

Didn't see the match but the score tells the story.

 

[BeBe]

Pretty sad. Without Clayton they need a good DS to play back row for Jahara Campbell and, after the debacle last night it appears that the only decent one they have on the roster is the injured Zoe Neverdowski. Mahoney seemed to try everybody else from the bench to no avail

 

[AztecBuff]

 

[AztecBuff]

Wasn't able to watch today's match, but the Buffs look to have lost a tight 4 setter to the Trojans, with 2 of the 3 sets lost being by 2 points.

Giving up 10 service aces today, assume the team is still trying to get the experience and personnel combos together to effectively replace the 2 (of their 4) main serve receivers they lost (1 each to injury and suspension) before last weekend's matches.

 

[AztecBuff]

 

[buffgal]

I did watch the match. Those last two matches were not as close as the score indicates.

Without Leah Clayton, we will be lucky to win another match.

I'm not sure why the bench players are not getting any playing time. The players on the court are not getting the job done. Jenna and Brynna are doing their jobs, but not getting much help from either the offense or defense.

 

[BeBe]

In the UCLA match . Mahoney put in every DS type player on the bench, except for 2 freshmen. None of them were any better than the starting DS Morgan Riddle. As for bench pin hitters the only one available is Kelley Levaggi. She has been inserted into games twice. Each time she got one kill and then was promptly getting blocked off the court. She's just too short and doesn't have the jump of a Justine Spann. The only other player on the bench is Bella Simkus. She has been in a little bit but MB isn't the main problem.

 

[buffgal]

It's going to be a very long season. I was surprised CU is still receiving votes.