The Buffs with a rare Thursday night match to start off the weekend as they hopefully can build on their solid play this past Sunday to earn their 1st conference win of the season in the friendly confines of the CU Events Center, (although as often happens in the Pac 12 it will have to be against 1 (or hopefully both) of 2 Top 25 teams they'll be facing).
Go Buffs!!!
Preview -
Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2019/10/22/volleyball-colorado-returns-home-against-two-top-25-teams.aspx
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BOULDER – Colorado volleyball looks to build on the strong performance last Sunday when the Buffaloes returns home and host No.24 Washington State and No. 9-ranked Washington this Thursday and Sunday, respectfully.
The Buffs (8-10, 0-8 Pac-12) are still searching for their first conference win this season but are coming off taking then-ranked No.15 Cal to five that included a 16-14 fifth set loss. Coming off the strong performance on the road, CU will take on Washington State (16-4, 5-3 Pac-12) Thursday evening at 7 p.m. with the Cougars coming off a home loss last weekend. The Huskies (15-3, 6-2 Pac-12) have lost five-straight but will have to come into Boulder after playing at No.18 Utah. Washington has also lost three of its last four matches in Boulder.
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Thursday's match will kick off at 7 p.m. and will celebrate the 70s with Disco Night. Sunday will be the Buffs Trick-or-Treat Street match where fans can come and get candy and show off their costumes as the Buffs take on the Huskies at 1 p.m.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
The Cougars have lost just four matches this season, but share a common non-conference opponent in Iowa, a team CU swept on the road. WSU fell to Iowa in their second match in a sweep, but that was their only non-conference loss. After upsetting Washington at home, WSU fell to Cal on the road in five sets. The team also was swept by UCLA on the road then rattled off four-straight wins before falling to Arizona State at home despite taking the first two sets.
Washington State spreads the ball around with four players with 139 or more kills, six players with 12 or more aces, four players with 133 or more digs and four players with 24 or more blocks. The biggest worry for Colorado comes upfront with Magda Jehlarova putting down 107 total blocks this season with more than 1.5 blocks per set by herself. Anything that makes it past her is cleaned up by Alexis Dirige with 330 digs. The team is defensively sound with 2.6 blocks per set and teams hitting .154 against them. On the offensive side, WSU is only being blocked less than twice per set and hitting .235 behind a quartet of players. Pia Timmer has a team-high 198 kills followed by Jocelyn Urias with 167, Jehlarova with 147 and Alexcis Lusby with 139.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Washington has just three losses this season, all on the road. The Huskies lost to Hawai'i in four during the first weekend, then at Washington State in four and at USC in four. Sandwiched between two four-set losses was knocking off No.1-ranked Stanford on their home floor in four sets. Since the loss against the Trojans, Washington has five-straight wins that include four at home. The team will have a tough battle at Utah before coming to Boulder on Sunday where they have lost two-straight matches and three of the last four.
Washington is hitting .244 as a team and holding opponents to a .191 hitting percentage. They are also putting down 2.7 blocks per set. Kara Bajema has emerged as one of the best players in the conference with 293 kills this season while hitting .241. She is joined by Samantha Drechsel with 177 kills. The Huskies have a strong front with five players with 42 or more blocks led by Avie Niece's 95. The backrow is also split up with three players with 168 or more digs, led by Shayne McPherson's 287.
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Matches' notes - (Can't see any as I type this.)
Match Media links -
Live video -
Vs. WSU (Thursday, 7:00 PM MT) : Will be viewable via a free live stream available at https://pac-12.com/live/pac-12-plus (as well I assume somewhere on the Pac 12 App?).
Vs. Washington (Sunday, 1:00 PM MT) : Will be viewable via a free live stream available at https://pac-12.com/live/cubuffs (as well I assume somewhere on the Pac 12 App?).
Live stats for both matches should be available at https://cubuffs.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary .
Go Buffs!!!
Preview -
Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2019/10/22/volleyball-colorado-returns-home-against-two-top-25-teams.aspx
"
BOULDER – Colorado volleyball looks to build on the strong performance last Sunday when the Buffaloes returns home and host No.24 Washington State and No. 9-ranked Washington this Thursday and Sunday, respectfully.
The Buffs (8-10, 0-8 Pac-12) are still searching for their first conference win this season but are coming off taking then-ranked No.15 Cal to five that included a 16-14 fifth set loss. Coming off the strong performance on the road, CU will take on Washington State (16-4, 5-3 Pac-12) Thursday evening at 7 p.m. with the Cougars coming off a home loss last weekend. The Huskies (15-3, 6-2 Pac-12) have lost five-straight but will have to come into Boulder after playing at No.18 Utah. Washington has also lost three of its last four matches in Boulder.
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Thursday's match will kick off at 7 p.m. and will celebrate the 70s with Disco Night. Sunday will be the Buffs Trick-or-Treat Street match where fans can come and get candy and show off their costumes as the Buffs take on the Huskies at 1 p.m.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
The Cougars have lost just four matches this season, but share a common non-conference opponent in Iowa, a team CU swept on the road. WSU fell to Iowa in their second match in a sweep, but that was their only non-conference loss. After upsetting Washington at home, WSU fell to Cal on the road in five sets. The team also was swept by UCLA on the road then rattled off four-straight wins before falling to Arizona State at home despite taking the first two sets.
Washington State spreads the ball around with four players with 139 or more kills, six players with 12 or more aces, four players with 133 or more digs and four players with 24 or more blocks. The biggest worry for Colorado comes upfront with Magda Jehlarova putting down 107 total blocks this season with more than 1.5 blocks per set by herself. Anything that makes it past her is cleaned up by Alexis Dirige with 330 digs. The team is defensively sound with 2.6 blocks per set and teams hitting .154 against them. On the offensive side, WSU is only being blocked less than twice per set and hitting .235 behind a quartet of players. Pia Timmer has a team-high 198 kills followed by Jocelyn Urias with 167, Jehlarova with 147 and Alexcis Lusby with 139.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Washington has just three losses this season, all on the road. The Huskies lost to Hawai'i in four during the first weekend, then at Washington State in four and at USC in four. Sandwiched between two four-set losses was knocking off No.1-ranked Stanford on their home floor in four sets. Since the loss against the Trojans, Washington has five-straight wins that include four at home. The team will have a tough battle at Utah before coming to Boulder on Sunday where they have lost two-straight matches and three of the last four.
Washington is hitting .244 as a team and holding opponents to a .191 hitting percentage. They are also putting down 2.7 blocks per set. Kara Bajema has emerged as one of the best players in the conference with 293 kills this season while hitting .241. She is joined by Samantha Drechsel with 177 kills. The Huskies have a strong front with five players with 42 or more blocks led by Avie Niece's 95. The backrow is also split up with three players with 168 or more digs, led by Shayne McPherson's 287.
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Matches' notes - (Can't see any as I type this.)
Match Media links -
Live video -
Vs. WSU (Thursday, 7:00 PM MT) : Will be viewable via a free live stream available at https://pac-12.com/live/pac-12-plus (as well I assume somewhere on the Pac 12 App?).
Vs. Washington (Sunday, 1:00 PM MT) : Will be viewable via a free live stream available at https://pac-12.com/live/cubuffs (as well I assume somewhere on the Pac 12 App?).
Live stats for both matches should be available at https://cubuffs.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary .