Congrats again to the team for a solid (if a little crazy) win over a ranked Oregon team!
It does NOT get any easier tonight, as OSU has won 5 straight matches, including last night over #12 Utah (3 sets to 1), as well as a win a couple weekends ago over ranked (currently #14) Washington on the road in Seattle. On the bright side, especially for a tough back to back night match challenge, it's great the Buffs had a pretty diversified offense last night. Even with it going 5 sets, the 2 Buff outside hitters (Shebby and Smith) "only" took 40 and 36 kill attempts, respectively (works out to a little less than 1/2 the Buffs total attempts), so their arms will hopefully be as fresh as possible tonight. (By comparison, in last week's 5 set loss to UCLA, they took ~70% (63 and 72 swings) of the Buff's total attempts, while in OSU's win last night in 4 sets, their star Ms. Marshall alone took 60 swings (although I doubt that will faze her, as I think the (now) senior star has had a BIG workload ever since she arrived at Corvallis.)
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Article on last night's win-
Direct link -
http://www.cubuffs.com/news/2017/10...plete-season-sweep-of-no-15-oregon-ducks.aspx
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EUGENE, Ore. — The Colorado Buffaloes completed the season sweep of No. 15 Oregon on Friday night with a 3-2 victory at Matthew Knight Arena.
The Buffs started the match strong, taking the first two set 25-17, 25-19. But the Ducks rallied back with two set wins of their own (25-17, 25-9) to force the fifth and deciding set. Colorado was able to regroup and finish the match with a 15-10 set win, which included the final six points.
The win puts the Buffs at 16-6 overall and 6-5 in Pac-12 play, while the Ducks are now 14-6 overall (7-5 Pac-12).
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NOTES: CU is 9-4 this season away from Coors and is 4-5 against ranked opponents…CU is 2-6 all-time in Eugene, but is 2-1 in the last three meetings at Matthew Knight Arena…Both of CU's wins in Eugene have come in five sets…This is the first time CU has swept the season series against the Ducks…CU has won four of its last five matches…CU is 5-2 in five-set matches.
TEAM STATISTICS: Oregon led the match with a .297 hitting percentage. The Ducks recorded 62 kills and 18 errors on 148 attacks. The Buffs hit .234 with 57 kills and 23 errors on 145 swings. Oregon also led the match in aces (6-3) and blocks (15.5-9.5). CU had the edge in digs at 58-52.
NEXT UP: The Buffs head to Corvallis, Ore. to square off against Oregon State on Saturday, Oct. 28, at 7 p.m. OSU has won five straight matches and are 16-7 (6-5 Pac-12).
QUOTES:
Head coach Jesse Mahoney
Thoughts on the match
"It was a really strange match. We controlled the first two sets fairly easily, almost too easily because we went into the third set and lost a little bit of our discipline before getting blown out in set four. To the players' credit, they were able to refocus and play a very high level set in set five. We scored the last six point of the match and are coming out of here with a win."
Thoughts on the team playing as a whole
"I thought everyone contributed tonight. In the first two sets our middles were on fire. In sets three and four we struggled a bit, but in set five, Frankie took some big swings. Pfeff put up some nice blocks and Lex made some amazing digs at the end. Brynna ran another great offense for us. It was a great match all the way around."
On what happened in the third and fourth sets
"Oregon is really good. They made some adjustments and I don't think we played as focused as we could have in set three. In set four, the wheels came off. I made some subs to give our starters an opportunity to refocus and be ready for set five."
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Box score -
http://www.cubuffs.com/documents/2017/10/27//10_27_17_Oregon.pdf