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Matches Thread- VOLLEYBALL hosts a Pac 12/ Big 10 Challenge- facing #19 Illinois (Saturday, 9/3/22, 2:30 PM) & Iowa (Sunday, 1:30 PM MT)

AztecBuff

AztecBuff

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In its 4th year of existence, it's the Buff volleyball team's turn to host this current edition of a Pac 12/ Big 10 Challenge, with the Buffs scheduled to once again play the #19 Illinois Illini*** (1-1) Saturday afternoon starting at 2:30 PM MT, followed up with a Sunday 1:30 PM MT match against the Iowa Hawkeyes (2-1).
(***With CU and Illinois also being part of a prior iteration of a Pac 12/ Big 10 Challenge, my GUESS is the Buffs may have had more non-conference matches against the Illini the last 7-8 years than any other opponent, although with the 2 annual matches against CSU that last couple or so normal seasons, the Rams may now be close.)

For any general volleyball fans, this is also a chance to see the #14 and pre-season Pac 12 favorite Washington Huskies (1-1) live, as they are the other Pac 12 squad in Boulder thist weekend, with them scheduled to play against Iowa Saturday starting at noon MT and then the #19 Illini Sunday at 11:00 AM MT.

All 4 matches this weekend are scheduled to be streaming via the Pac 12 Insider platform. (More detail and link near the bottom of this post.)

Go Buffs!!!

Preview-



Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2022/8/30/volleyball-buffaloes-host-pac-12-big-ten-challenge.aspx

"
BOULDER — The undefeated Colorado women's volleyball team will play host to the 2022 Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge this Saturday and Sunday, hosting No.14-ranked Washington, No.19-ranked Illinois and Iowa.

Colorado will play Illinois first at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday before facing Iowa Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Washington will face the Hawkeyes Saturday at noon and the Illini at 11 a.m. on Sunday. All of the matches will be streamed on Pac-12 Insider.

The Buffaloes (3-0) are coming off a Buffs Invitational title run led by their strong defensive play. Colorado led the NCAA through the opening weekend with 44 total blocks. The effort led to Alexia Kuehl being named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week with a conference-best 22 blocks, good for sixth in the NCAA.

The middles were a strong part of CU's success with both Kuehl and Meegan Hart picking up their first career double-double against Denver. Hart finished with 40 kills and a .543 hitting percentage, the latter of which ranks her 10th in the NCAA.
...

The Buffs will look to lean heavily on their efficient hitting percentage of .294 while limiting their opponents to just .142 hitting through their strong blocking.

Colorado head coach Jesse Mahoney brings a 27-2 home nonconference record into the tournament that includes upsetting No.13 Penn State and No.17 Illinois in this same tournament back in 2016. Mahoney and staff are 8-2 in the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge, including four wins over Illinois in five tries. In 2019, CU swept Illinois when it was ranked fifth in the NCAA, the only top-10 win for Mahoney at CU. Colorado is 3-0 against Iowa since the Hawkeyes took over for Penn State.

Tickets for the tournament will include both matches for each day and are available at cubuffs.com/22vbtix. Sunday's match will be the 500th home match for Colorado in the program's history.

ILLINOIS
The Illini are 1-1 to start the season after being swept by No.9 Georgia Tech in the season opener. They responded by defeating Ole Miss on their home court in four sets. Illinois is hitting .207 this season while allowing their opponents to hit .249. Much of the hitting discrepancy is due to Illinois being blocked 2.7 times per set while only recording 1.7 blocks per set.

Raina Terry and Jessica Nunge each have 22 kills to lead Illinois in the early season and are the only hitters with more than 11 kills. Setter Diana Brown is averaging just less than 9.5 assists per set. She also is tied with Caroline Barnes with a team-best 19 digs while Rylee Hinton has a team-best six blocks.

IOWA
The Hawkeyes went 2-1 during the opening weekend with wins against Gonzaga and Florida International before being swept by Oklahoma in their first away match. Iowa is holding their opponents to a .115 hitting percentage while hitting .212, led by a 12.8 assists per set mark. Iowa is also averaging 16 digs per set, three more than their opponents.

Michelle Urquhart leads Iowa with 32 kills and has three teammates with more than 20. All four of the top hitters are hitting .227 or better. Defensively, Mari Hinkle is averaging 4.8 digs per set while Delaney McSweeney has a team-best 9.5 blocks.

Oklahoma was able to hold Iowa to a .168 hitting percentage and keep Urquhart to a -.043 hitting percentage with just five kills. The Hawkeyes hit .353 against Gonzaga with Urquhart recording 17 kills. In both wins, Iowa held their opponent under .09 hitting.

"
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

More on the opponents -

Illinois:
Roster - https://fightingillini.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster
Stats - https://fightingillini.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats
Schedule/ results for this season - https://fightingillini.com/sports/womens-volleyball/schedule?path=wvball
Their preview article for the match with the Buffs - Not available as I type this.

Iowa:
Roster - https://hawkeyesports.com/sports/wvball/roster/
Stats - https://hawkeyesports.com/sports/wvball/cumestats/season/2022-23/
Schedule/ results for this season - https://hawkeyesports.com/sports/wvball/schedule/
Their preview article for the match with the Buffs & General preview - Not available as I type this.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Media links:

Link to links to Live stats (for all matches) - https://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=colo

Live Video - All 4 matches (involving the Buffs or Huskies) are scheduled to be available via stream on the Pac 12 Insider platform at https://pac-12.com/live?networks=P12I .

Match notes - Not available for either match as I type this. (The last notes I can find when clicking on the Match Notes link on cubuffs.com is from some of the last home matches of LAST season, so maybe they aren't planning on providing notes for volleyball this season?)
 
Those two "upsets" against Penn State and Illinois were fun to watch.

I hope Colorado treats the other 3 teams better than Iowa did when they hosted. On Friday, they had most of the parking lots closed for football the next day. Didn't matter when we told them we were there for volleyball on that day. We played and beat Illinois in the late game. As soon as the Iowa game was over, the concession stands were closed. It was hot in there and the Illini fans and the CU fans would have liked refreshments but there were none to be had.
 
CSU has lost two in a row to UNC Bears and Arkansas. They may not be their normal dominant selves. UNC bears are having a good year beating North Carolina and now CSU. Would love to see CU sweep again
 
Preview for this weekend's matches - https://cubuffs.com/news/2022/8/30/volleyball-buffaloes-host-pac-12-big-ten-challenge.aspx

"
BOULDER — The undefeated Colorado women's volleyball team will play host to the 2022 Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge this Saturday and Sunday, hosting No.14-ranked Washington, No.19-ranked Illinois and Iowa.

Colorado will play Illinois first at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday before facing Iowa Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Washington will face the Hawkeyes Saturday at noon and the Illini at 11 a.m. on Sunday. All of the matches will be streamed on Pac-12 Insider.

The Buffaloes (3-0) are coming off a Buffs Invitational title run led by their strong defensive play. Colorado led the NCAA through the opening weekend with 44 total blocks. The effort led to Alexia Kuehl being named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week with a conference-best 22 blocks, good for sixth in the NCAA.
...

Tickets for the tournament will include both matches for each day and are available at cubuffs.com/22vbtix. Sunday's match will be the 500th home match for Colorado in the program's history.

ILLINOIS
The Illini are 1-1 to start the season after being swept by No.9 Georgia Tech in the season opener. They responded by defeating Ole Miss on their home court in four sets. Illinois is hitting .207 this season while allowing their opponents to hit .249. Much of the hitting discrepancy is due to Illinois being blocked 2.7 times per set while only recording 1.7 blocks per set.

Raina Terry and Jessica Nunge each have 22 kills to lead Illinois in the early season and are the only hitters with more than 11 kills. Setter Diana Brown is averaging just less than 9.5 assists per set. She also is tied with Caroline Barnes with a team-best 19 digs while Rylee Hinton has a team-best six blocks.

IOWA
The Hawkeyes went 2-1 during the opening weekend with wins against Gonzaga and Florida International before being swept by Oklahoma in their first away match. Iowa is holding their opponents to a .115 hitting percentage while hitting .212, led by a 12.8 assists per set mark. Iowa is also averaging 16 digs per set, three more than their opponents.

Michelle Urquhart leads Iowa with 32 kills and has three teammates with more than 20. All four of the top hitters are hitting .227 or better. Defensively, Mari Hinkle is averaging 4.8 digs per set while Delaney McSweeney has a team-best 9.5 blocks.

Oklahoma was able to hold Iowa to a .168 hitting percentage and keep Urquhart to a -.043 hitting percentage with just five kills. The Hawkeyes hit .353 against Gonzaga with Urquhart recording 17 kills. In both wins, Iowa held their opponent under .09 hitting.
"
 
Just watched Purdue beat Utah in 5 sets. Utah was never close in the 5th set. Announcers said Utah dropped out of the rankings after last weekend's loss to Utah Valley. I'm guessing that is part of the Big 10/Pac 12 Challenge.
 
The 2nd set also starts off tight, but then the Buffs get a nice ~4 point?) serve run from Perry to go up 17-12, and then keep Illinois from getting much on their serve to earn the 25-18 win to go up 2-0.
 
Unlike the 1st 2 sets, Buffs go down by. as much as 5 points, and are down late 17-21. BUT, Perry once again goes on a service run, led by of course good defense and hitting, and the Buffs come back and SWEEP the #19 Illini with a 25-22 3rd set.

GREAT WIN BUFFS!
 
Thanks for the updates Aztec and Ken. My oldest (12) started playing VB at school, so I’ve developed more than a passing interest in the sport. Makes it fun when i have teams to root for. GO BUFFS!
 
Media after today's match:

Article -




Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2022/9/3/volleyball-colorado-sweep-no-19-illinois.aspx

"
BOULDER — Colorado women's volleyball took down Illinois in three sets (27-25, 25-18, 25-22) here Saturday afternoon to earn its third-ever ranked win over the Illini in the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge.

The Buffaloes (4-0) swept the 19th-ranked Fighting Illini (1-2) behind a strong offensive performance from Maya Tabron who totaled 13 kills with a .300 hitting percentage to pair with her eight digs and three blocks.

The offensive, ran by sophomore Taylor Simpson, dominated hitting .370 in the match as a team. Simpson dished out 40 total assists (13.33 per set) and had five hitters with a .300 hitting percentage or greater. Alexia Kuehl, Meegan Hart and Lexi Hadrych all had nine kills in the match while Kuehl and Hart both hit over .500.

On the defensive end, Colorado held Illinois to a .185 hitting percentage behind eight blocks, five of which came from Kuehl. Tabron and Brynna DeLuzio had a team-best eight digs, while libero Katie Lougeay had seven.

The Buffs committed just nine total attack errors in the match, including one in the second set while the team hit .520.

With the win, the Buffs are now 5-1 against the Illini in their last six matchups, three of which came as a ranked upset.

Colorado will look to keep its win streak going when it takes on the Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday, Sept. 4, at 1:30 p.m.
...

QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Mahoney
On The First Ranked Win
"It was a lot of fun to watch. Illinois is obviously very talented and very physical. They had control of us a couple points and we had to battle back in a couple of sets, but I thought the team played our game plan. They switched from a 5-1 to a 6-2 and we adjusted to that really well. Offensively, Taylor Simpson is doing an amazing job. I mean, we hit .370 and I think that's with ok passing. She's putting the ball on time. We had a lot of moving parts, we had a lot of kids coming in and playing different roles which can be hard to do, but they have kind of taken to it and it's fun to watch."

On Brynna Switching With Lexi
"We're trying to win. So we're trying to put our players in positions to be successful. Brynna's super talented and she can do a lot of things. Getting her reintegrated into some passing in some defense where sometimes she's playing left back or we double subs or switched Taylor out and have her set for a rotation. She can do a lot of things and I thought she started off, not to pick on Brynna, she started off a little slow but by the end of the match she was in a really good rhythm and had some really nice play. She had a great dig there in that third set that was a momentum changer for us. We had a lot of really good performances today."

On What To Clean Up For Tomorrow
"There's not a ton of prep time and we don't want to jump and tire ourselves out. We already did that today a little bit. I think we can serve better. We had 11 errors and one ace, I think we can get a little bit better there. We have a really good serving team. We just have to be comfortable back there and not worry about the results and just go through the process a little bit. I told them in the huddle, tomorrow is a little bit of a trap match because we're feeling really good right now and Iowa has some talented, talented kids. If we don't respect anyone that we play, they're going to take it out on us. We're going to have a little bit of fun for a couple hours, and then we'll be right back at it for tomorrow."
...
"

Box score - https://cubuffs.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats/2022/illinois/boxscore/15903


 
Media after today's match. (Now they're on the road for the 1st time this season- off to Arkansas.)

Article -




Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2022/9/4/volleyball-buffaloes-capture-pac-12-big-ten-challenge-title.aspx

"
BOULDER — Colorado women's volleyball swept Iowa in the match (25-20, 25-16, 25-21) here Sunday afternoon to finish the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge without dropping a single set.

The Buffaloes (5-0) were dominant offensively hitting .306 and defensively holding Iowa (2-3) to .142 and moved to 5-0 all-time against the Hawkeyes.

CU had three players who racked up more kills than Iowa's leading scorer. Lexi Hadrych led all players in kills with 13 while hitting .435, while Maya Tabron had 11 kills and Meegan Hart had eight. Hart finished with an impressive hitting percentage of .538, her fourth match already hitting greater than .500.

Alexia Kuehl and Taylor Simpson both had good showings for the Buffs. Kuehl was a defensive force and was involved in every single one of the team's seven blocks. Simpson made a big impact in Colorado's win with three kills, one service ace, five digs and 33 assists. Simpson averaged more than 12 assists per set in the tournament.

The Buffs finished 2-0 in the challenge, taking the title based on sets lost compared to No.14 Washington who also went 2-0. Hadrych was named the tournament MVP and was joined by Hart and Simpson on the All-Tournament team.

Katie Lougeay averaged 5.67 digs per set in the sweep with a team-high 17 digs and also had two of the team's seven service aces.
The Buffs will be traveling to Fayetteville, Arkansas later in the week to compete in the Arkansas Invitational.
...

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
MVP Lexi Hadrych – CU
Meegan Hart – CU
Taylor Simpson – CU
Ella May Powell – UW
Marin Grote – UW
Raina Terry – Ill
Mari Hinkle – Iowa

QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Mahoney
On Winning Both Games This Weekend
"We talked about not having a letdown after yesterday because yesterday was exciting for us and a really big win. We wanted to go into this match, playing as hard and as focused as we did yesterday, and I really think we did that. Early on Alexia (Kuehl) started with two big blocks and I think that kind of set the tone for the day. In general, I thought we did a really nice job. Our offense is kind of cruising along and Taylor (Simpson) is doing a nice job moving the ball around. We need to clean some things up defensively and serving wise - we've let some teams hang around because we gave them some free points here and there. But in general, I thought we did a really nice job and we responded. At times when they pushed us, we found a way to respond and create some space at the end of sets. It's exciting for us and I'm happy to get a couple days off and then go on the road for the first time."

On Senior Libero Katie Lougeay
"I'm really happy for Katie because she's playing as well as I've ever seen her play and she's passing at a really high level. We're doing some different things defensively in terms of personnel and everyone's kind of rolling with it and when they have their opportunities, they're playing hard. Katie had a great weekend last weekend and a great weekend this weekend and we're looking forward to her continuing to improve as well."

On The Turnaround In Serving
"I hate every service error, that's what I'd say. But no, I think we served better today. We certainly hit the spots we needed to hit. Sav has come in, I think, in almost every match we played and sparked us from the serving line, which has been good to see, and then I think Brynna has done that as well. So again, it's a team effort. This might be the first match we've had more aces than errors, so if we continue to do that, that'll be good to see."

On Any Surprises
"I don't want to say anything has surprised us. It's nice to have a really veteran group. They just understand what we need to do. They understand how they need to take care of themselves away from the court and how they need to be focused when we're in the training atmosphere. When we talk about things tactically, everyone understands what we're doing. I think that's kind of gone a long way to our early success, super talented group, but also super mature, which is really cool. So, I'm not sure if anything has surprised me. Offensively, we're a little bit farther along than I thought we would be. We're putting up some really good numbers and our outside hitters are super efficient. In system, everyone's good and out of system, we've got to clean up the garbage sometimes, and they're doing a really nice job of that. I hate getting too many pats on the back but that's a place where we're doing well but it's going to be important for us to continue there."
"

Box score -

Volleyball vs Iowa on 9/4/2022 - Box Score - University of Colorado Athletics

The official box score of Volleyball vs Iowa on 9/4/2022
cubuffs.com cubuffs.com


 
Hawkeyes gave them a game in the 2nd set. Stayed close in the 3rd but I don't recall them getting ahead.

Love the SWEEP!

Commentator said Arkansas swept CSU in Fort Collins and upset Washington 3-1. They turned around the next day and got beat by Washington 3-1.

Should have a better idea of how they compete against Arkansas on their court.
 
While watching the Iowa match today, we decided that the game plan must have been to start each set playing sloppy ball and then turn things around and go for the win. Maybe challenging themselves since they didn't think Iowa by itself would be enuf challenge? They played each set that way and seemed to make the "sloppy" portion last a little longer each set.
 
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