VOLLEYBALL (12-9 overall; 4-6 in Pac 12 play) looks to build on their improved play and 2 sweeps this weekend with 2 more HUGE matches if they wish to improve their upward battle for an NCAA tournament berth. 1st up is a Friday evening matchup with the RV (receiving votes) USC Trojans (13-7, 7-3), followed up with a Sunday matinee against the UCLA Bruins (11-9, 3-7).
(Although as I mentioned CU still faces an uphill battle to earn a tournament bid, the L.A. schools offer opportunities for a very good win in the case of USC (who after a tough start have been racking up some nice wins in the 1st half of conference play to probably insure their tourney berth (unless they totally fell apart in the 2nd half)), and UCLA may be a competitor with CU for an at-large bid. In addition, after this weekend 6 of CU's last 8 regular season matches are on the road, so I'm sure they'll want to take advantage of the "home cooking" as much as possible this weekend.)
In the latest official RPI report (https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/volleyball-women/d1/ncaa-womens-volleyball-rpi), the Buffs are at #50, while USC is #32 and UCLA #44 .
(As I mentioned in last week's preview, in the Volleytalk forum I read that a rating/ ranking I hadn't heard of, KPI (available via query at https://faktorsports.com/), is now listed as a primary criteria this season for the NCAA tournament volleyball selection committee. Right now the Buffs are also #50 in KPI, while the Trojans are #38 and Bruins #37.))
Friday's match is scheduled to be shown on on the Pac 12 Networks, while Sunday's is scheduled to be shown on a CU-provided (Pac 12 Insider) stream. (See more details and links near the bottom of this post.)
Go Buffs!!!
Preview -
Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2023/10/24/colorado-volleyball-welcomes-usc-and-ucla.aspx
"
BOULDER – The Colorado Women's Volleyball team (12-9, 4-6) will once again be in the CU Events Center this weekend, as they take on USC (13-7, 7-3) and UCLA (11-9, 3-7). The Buffs will play the Trojans Friday night at 7 p.m. MT and the Bruins on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. MT.
The Buffs just closed out their best weekend of the season, taking down Arizona and No. 17 Arizona State at home via a sweep in both matches. It is the first time all season that CU has taken down a ranked team.
Lexi Hadrych once again had a stellar weekend, posting 34 kills on 61 total attempts (.443%). She tacked on 10 digs in the match against Arizona State, giving her the lone double-double for the Buffs' on the weekend.
After two important conference wins at home over the Arizona schools, Colorado is now seventh in the Pac-12 and tied with Utah and Washington with four conference wins a piece.
CU traveled to Los Angeles just a little under a month ago and dropped both of their matches against USC and UCLA and will look to get back at both of them this weekend at home. Friday's game against USC will also feature the Buffs' final Happy Hour of the season and the team will have "volleyball bingo" throughout the game. On Sunday, fans are encouraged to wear a costume for the squad's "Spooky Sunday" match.
OPPONENT OVERVIEW
USC
The Trojans travel to Boulder after an action packed weekend at home against Washington and No. 4 Washington State. Taking both matches to five sets, USC pulled out wins in both, earning their biggest win of the season over No. 4 ranked Washington State.
The Buffaloes have won just three of the 26 total matches in program history against the Trojans, with all three of those wins coming at home, including the last two times. CU will look to extend their home-winning streak over USC to three games this Sunday.
UCLA
"
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
More on the opponents:
USC:
Roster - https://usctrojans.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster
Stats - https://usctrojans.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats
Schedule/ results for this season - https://usctrojans.com/sports/womens-volleyball/schedule
Their preview article for the match with the Buffs - https://usctrojans.com/news/2023/10/23/usc-womens-volleyball-taps-rockies-to-close-october.aspx
UCLA:
Roster - https://uclabruins.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster
Stats - https://uclabruins.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats/2023
Schedule/ results for this season - https://uclabruins.com/sports/womens-volleyball/schedule
Their preview article for the match with the Buffs - Not available as I type this.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Media links:
Link to links to live stats for all matches - https://www.statbroadcast.com/events/schedule.php?live=1&gid=colo . Direct links for these matches:
USC - UCLA - https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=477251
Live Video:
Vs. USC - The match is scheduled to be shown live on the Pac 12 Mountain and L.A. channels. For those whose Cable/ Satellite/ Cord Cutting subscription(s) includes access to any Pac 12 channel, assume it can also be streamed through a link at https://pac-12.com/womens-volleyball/event/2023/10/28/usc-colorado.
Vs. UCLA - The match is scheduled to be shown live on a free live stream available at https://pac-12.com/live?networks=P12I .
Match notes - Not available as I type this.
Buffs' 2023 Team Prospectus - https://cubuffs.com/documents/2023/8/21/2023_VB_Prospectus.pdf
(Although as I mentioned CU still faces an uphill battle to earn a tournament bid, the L.A. schools offer opportunities for a very good win in the case of USC (who after a tough start have been racking up some nice wins in the 1st half of conference play to probably insure their tourney berth (unless they totally fell apart in the 2nd half)), and UCLA may be a competitor with CU for an at-large bid. In addition, after this weekend 6 of CU's last 8 regular season matches are on the road, so I'm sure they'll want to take advantage of the "home cooking" as much as possible this weekend.)
In the latest official RPI report (https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/volleyball-women/d1/ncaa-womens-volleyball-rpi), the Buffs are at #50, while USC is #32 and UCLA #44 .
(As I mentioned in last week's preview, in the Volleytalk forum I read that a rating/ ranking I hadn't heard of, KPI (available via query at https://faktorsports.com/), is now listed as a primary criteria this season for the NCAA tournament volleyball selection committee. Right now the Buffs are also #50 in KPI, while the Trojans are #38 and Bruins #37.))
Friday's match is scheduled to be shown on on the Pac 12 Networks, while Sunday's is scheduled to be shown on a CU-provided (Pac 12 Insider) stream. (See more details and links near the bottom of this post.)
Go Buffs!!!
Preview -
Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2023/10/24/colorado-volleyball-welcomes-usc-and-ucla.aspx
"
BOULDER – The Colorado Women's Volleyball team (12-9, 4-6) will once again be in the CU Events Center this weekend, as they take on USC (13-7, 7-3) and UCLA (11-9, 3-7). The Buffs will play the Trojans Friday night at 7 p.m. MT and the Bruins on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. MT.
The Buffs just closed out their best weekend of the season, taking down Arizona and No. 17 Arizona State at home via a sweep in both matches. It is the first time all season that CU has taken down a ranked team.
Lexi Hadrych once again had a stellar weekend, posting 34 kills on 61 total attempts (.443%). She tacked on 10 digs in the match against Arizona State, giving her the lone double-double for the Buffs' on the weekend.
After two important conference wins at home over the Arizona schools, Colorado is now seventh in the Pac-12 and tied with Utah and Washington with four conference wins a piece.
CU traveled to Los Angeles just a little under a month ago and dropped both of their matches against USC and UCLA and will look to get back at both of them this weekend at home. Friday's game against USC will also feature the Buffs' final Happy Hour of the season and the team will have "volleyball bingo" throughout the game. On Sunday, fans are encouraged to wear a costume for the squad's "Spooky Sunday" match.
OPPONENT OVERVIEW
USC
The Trojans travel to Boulder after an action packed weekend at home against Washington and No. 4 Washington State. Taking both matches to five sets, USC pulled out wins in both, earning their biggest win of the season over No. 4 ranked Washington State.
The Buffaloes have won just three of the 26 total matches in program history against the Trojans, with all three of those wins coming at home, including the last two times. CU will look to extend their home-winning streak over USC to three games this Sunday.
UCLA
"
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
More on the opponents:
USC:
Roster - https://usctrojans.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster
Stats - https://usctrojans.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats
Schedule/ results for this season - https://usctrojans.com/sports/womens-volleyball/schedule
Their preview article for the match with the Buffs - https://usctrojans.com/news/2023/10/23/usc-womens-volleyball-taps-rockies-to-close-october.aspx
UCLA:
Roster - https://uclabruins.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster
Stats - https://uclabruins.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats/2023
Schedule/ results for this season - https://uclabruins.com/sports/womens-volleyball/schedule
Their preview article for the match with the Buffs - Not available as I type this.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Media links:
Link to links to live stats for all matches - https://www.statbroadcast.com/events/schedule.php?live=1&gid=colo . Direct links for these matches:
USC - UCLA - https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=477251
Live Video:
Vs. USC - The match is scheduled to be shown live on the Pac 12 Mountain and L.A. channels. For those whose Cable/ Satellite/ Cord Cutting subscription(s) includes access to any Pac 12 channel, assume it can also be streamed through a link at https://pac-12.com/womens-volleyball/event/2023/10/28/usc-colorado.
Vs. UCLA - The match is scheduled to be shown live on a free live stream available at https://pac-12.com/live?networks=P12I .
Match notes - Not available as I type this.
Buffs' 2023 Team Prospectus - https://cubuffs.com/documents/2023/8/21/2023_VB_Prospectus.pdf