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CUBuffs.com: Spikers Open Home Schedule With Omni Invitational (3 matches between Saturday - Sunday)

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BOULDER—After starting the 2017 season on the road, the Colorado Buffaloes will return to Boulder to host the Omni Invitational, Sept. 1-3, at Coors Events Center.

While CU will not play on Friday, Sept. 1, there will be a pair of matches contested. Rice and Wake Forest will start things off at 10 a.m. and at 5 p.m., WFU will be back in action against Abilene Christian. The invitational will continue on Saturday, Sept. 2, at 10 a.m. with a tilt between Rice and Abilene Christian. At 1 p.m., the Buffs will take the court at Coors for the first time this year against Wake Forest. CU will play again at 7 p.m. against Rice. The final match of the invitational will be played Sunday, Sept. 3. The Buffs will host Abilene Christian at 11 a.m.

Links to the live stats, as well as a live stream for all three CU matches, are available at CUBuffs.com.

HURRICANE HARVEY RELIEF/HELP
Our hearts go out to the hundreds of thousands of people affected by what is being called the worst flooding disaster in U.S. history. We at CU would like to encourage our fans to donate to the Red Cross to help during the time of need.

The Red Cross has launched a massive response to this devastating storm and needs financial donations to be able to provide immediate disaster relief. Help people affected by Hurricane Harvey by visiting redcross.org, calling 1- 800-RED CROSS or texting the word HARVEY to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
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WHAT'S NEXT: Colorado heads to the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge in Champaign, Ill. The Buffs will face fifth-ranked Penn State on Sept. 8 at 3:30 p.m. MT, and on Sept. 9, CU will take on Illinois at 1:30 p.m. MT. This is the third straight year CU will compete in the challenge.

MATCH PROMOTIONS
Saturday, Sept. 2, 7 p.m. vs. Rice
  • Head coach Jesse Mahoney will host a pre-match 'Chalk Talk', in the Coors Club Room approximately 35 minutes prior to the start of the match. This is open to the public.
  • The team will sign autographs following the match on the concourse behind sections 3 and 4.
Sunday, Sept. 3, 11 a.m. vs. Abilene Christian
  • Following the match, the Buffs will host a post-match clinic for all kids eighth-grade and younger.
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Continue reading...
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Buff matches' schedule and info/ viewing links. (Looks like same free video and live stat links should work for all 3 matches.)-

Vs. Wake Forest (Saturday, starting at 1:00 PM MT)
Vs. Rice (Saturday, starting at 7:00 PM MT)
Vs. Abilene Christian (Sunday, starting at 11:00 AM MT)

Free Live Stream - http://pac-12.com/live/cubuffs
Live Stats - http://www.sidearmstats.com/cu/wvball/
 
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Best wishes to the vball team this weekend!

Hope they go for another sweep!

A couple random notes-
  • For anyone interested in getting more detail at a fan-friendly level on the intricacies of the skills and strategy of volleyball, note that Coach Mahoney is hosting one of his pre-match "Chalk Talks" before the Saturday evening match. I had a good time learning some at the one I was able to attend last season. See the OP above for more info. (As with I think almost ALL sports, esp. team sports, it's amazing to me how many more aspects there are (esp. at an elite D1 level) to volleyball than I had even considered before hand.)
  • As listed in the original post, please note there are a couple matches on Friday (10:00 and 5:00), neither of which involve the Buffs. If you want really good seats to view an "intimate" match or two of volleyball, assume those matches will be easy to see, and the young women of those teams playing will appreciate the support. (Of course, as I write this I seem to remember the match starting at 5:00 may conflict with another sporting event happening near the same time that will hold greater interest to most Buff fans.)
 
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As also mentioned in the soccer game thread, dual Buff home action is only about a half hour away, with both soccer and volleyball scheduled to start at 1:00. (As noted in the below tweet, vball is playing twice today!)

Best wishes to the volleyball team!

 
Match has started. (Hopefully they fix live stats, as they have graduated Cierra Simpson setting instead of THIS YEAR's #10 Deluzio.)

It's 7 all early in the 1st.
 
Phew- Buffs get the 1st 25-23. From the stats, Buffs fell a few points behind, caught up late and pulled a little ahead behind consecutive blocks.
 
And the Buffs come back from an early deficit (6-8,etc.)in the 2nd to go up 16-10 and then finish with a 25-18 win. Nice to see they were also able to get a couple other outside hitters some playing time late in the set.

Hope they play a strong 3rd and finish this match off strong.
 
And the Buffs complete the sweep 25-15 in the 3rd. Nice sounding workmanlike effort, and always good to get off the court as soon as possible, esp. on double header days.(I also believe the Buffs next opponent, Rice, may be the toughest test to date this season.)
 
AztecBuff said:
Match has started. (Hopefully they fix live stats, as they have graduated Cierra Simpson setting instead of THIS YEAR's #10 Deluzio.)

It's 7 all early in the 1st.
Click to expand...

They had both Cierra and Gabby on live stats at that point
 
Article on the win over Wake Forest-

Direct link - http://www.cubuffs.com/news/2017/9/2/volleyball-sweeps-wake-forest-to-open-season-at-home.aspx

"
BOULDER — In the first ever meeting between the Wake Forest and Colorado volleyball programs, it was the Buffaloes who came out victorious, sweeping the Deacons (25-23, 25-18, 25-15) to win their home opener at Coors Events Center, as well as their fourth straight match of the season.

WHAT HAPPENED: For the fourth consecutive contest, junior outside hitter Alexa Smith led the Buffs, this time tallying 14 kills. She committed just two errors on 27 swings to hit .444. Behind her was junior Frankie Shebby who tallied eight kills.

Junior Naghede Abu had a solid performance again, recording a hitting percentage of .500 with seven kills on 14 errorless attempts and a pair of blocks. Freshman setter Brynna Deluzio also handed out 35 assists and added three digs and one block.
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NEXT UP: The Buffs will be back in action tonight at 7 p.m. MT against the Rice Owls. The match will be streamed live at pac12.com/live/cubuffs. Live stats are available at CUBuffs.com.
"
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Note- Did look up, and it looks like Rice (4-2 this season) should be a TOUGH test for the Buffs tonight, as the Owls also swept Wake Forest yesterday by almost identical (albeit in different order) set scores to what the Buffs accomplished today.
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As a reminder for those planning to attend the match live and have the time (copied from the original tournament preview article and quoted in the OP- "Head coach Jesse Mahoney will host a pre-match 'Chalk Talk', in the Coors Club Room approximately 35 minutes prior to the start of the match. This is open to the public."
 
And the Buffs complete the sweep 25-20 in the 3rd over the Owls. Way to to go Buffs!
(Of course, in a much more serious vein, best wishes to Rice when they get back home. Hope all is well with all their families and friends.)


Hope the Buffs can keep the intensity up when they face Abilene Christian tomorrow morning.
 
Article on this evening's win-


Direct link - http://www.cubuffs.com/news/2017/9/2/volleyball-records-second-sweep-of-the-day-defeats-rice.aspx

"
BOULDER — The Buffs recorded their second win of the Omni Invitational on Saturday with a 3-0 victory over Rice (4-2) to improve to 5-0 on the season. Set scores were 25-15, 25-20, 25-20.

WHAT HAPPENED: The Buffs put up a strong performance with three players, junior Alexa Smith, junior Naghede Abu and senior Joslyn Hayes, racking up nine kills each. Smith also recorded five digs, two blocks and one assist with no attack errors to hit .429. Abu hit .389 with just two errors on 18 attacks while contributing three blocks, and Hayes hit .421 with one error on 19 swings while adding three blocks and two digs.

Senior Anna Pfefferle also put up solid numbers for the Buffs, recording six kills while hitting .429 and two blocks. Freshman setter Brynna Deluzio handed out 32 assists in addition to three kills, three digs, two aces and one block.

CU held Rice to a .208 hitting efficiency, thanks in part to a 15-dig performance by junior Gabby Carta-Samuels. Junior Frankie Shebby was second on the team with 10 digs.
...

NEXT UP: The Buffs will be back in action Sunday at 11 a.m. MT against the Abilene Christian Wildcats. The match will be streamed live at pac12.com/live/cubuffs. Live stats are available at CUBuffs.com.
...
"

Boxscore - http://www.cubuffs.com/boxscore.aspx?path=wvball&id=9816

Also, noticed there's now a highlight video available for the 1st match today -

 
Article in Camera states Branen Berta, transfer from Iowa State, has left the team.
 
Looks like a different pair of starters on the left side today. Great they can get some playing time.

 
buffgal said:
BeBe, how do you think the team looks as compared to a year ago?
Click to expand...
That's not the easiest question to answer.

At one level, looking at individual players, there is a lot of improvement. But looking at the team as a whole so much rides on the abilities of the setter. And, so far, the Buffs freshman setter Brynna DeLuzio has looked pretty good. She gets to the balls and puts up relatively consistent hittable sets. Also has a deceptive setter dump. But she is learning on the fly ...she has some setter background but was recruited as a libero so her focus wasn't on being a setter when she was looking ahead to her college ball. She is getting a lot of coaching during the games. But behind her ... not much. Emily DeMure, the Penn State transfer hitter who set during spring ball, came in several times on a double sub but her locations on her sets were erratic. Jaden Newsome, the Senior Ace recruited setter, hasn't seen the court yet in a match. She must be having trouble making the transition from high school to college

Individuals:
Frankie Shebby is an excellent add. She has looked good both hitting and playing back row defense.... a good 6 rotation outside hitter.
Joslyn Hayes is hitting just as hard but smarter it seems. She hit around the block or tipped over the block a few times rather than only trying to power thru.
Gabby Carta Samuels played really good defense this weekend as the libero. She looked dramatically improved over what we saw from her last 2 seasons.
Naghede hit a few balls that I thought would put holes in the floor she hit with so much power. She still has work to do on it but she has added a decent angled shot to her repertoire.
At the OH spot, the depth is good. Stephanie Shadley played well in all 6 rotations and Justine Spann looked good in the back row and hitting against the 6 foot block of ACU. But she still needs to master tooling the block for the bigger PAC12 blocks coming up.
The back row attack was used quite a bit and was mostly effective by all the outside hitters.

So, before this becomes too long for anyone to read, let me net my view out .... The team is looking better than I expected them to. The hitters are looking good and the defense (by everybody, not just the libero and DS players) is better than I have seen in a while from a Buffs VB team. Compared to last year I would say they are about as good and could maybe become even better. BUT if anything happens to DeLuzio, they could be toast.
 
Article on today's match-

Direct link - http://www.cubuffs.com/news/2017/9/...tational-with-sweep-of-abilene-christian.aspx

"
BOULDER — The Buffs took first place in the Omni Invitational after claiming a 3-0 victory over Abilene Christian (1-5) on Sunday afternoon at Coors Event Center. The Buffs, who improve to 6-0, swept the Wildcats with set scores of 25-19, 25-20 and 25-20. The 6-0 start ties the best start in CU history as the Buffs also started the 2008 season 6-0.

WHAT HAPPENED: The Buffs hit extremely well with senior Stephanie Shadley leading the team in kills with 11. She recorded a double-double with 14 digs and added two blocks in her first start of the season. Junior Naghede Abu also had a solid match, recording a hitting percentage of .615 with eight kills on 13 attempts (no errors). She also led the team in blocking with five block assists.

Sophomore Justine Spann was second on the team in kills with nine and also recorded a season best 11 digs while adding two blocks and two assists. Freshman setter Brynna Deluzio continued to shine for the Buffs as she recorded 38 assists in addition to three kills and 14 digs.
...

NEXT UP: The Buffs will be back in action Friday, Sept. 8 at 3:30 p.m. MT when they face the Penn State Nittany Lions in their first match of the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge. Live stats are available at CUBuffs.com.
...
"

Boxscore - http://www.cubuffs.com/boxscore.aspx?path=wvball&id=9817

Highlights from last evening's match against Rice-



Today's match highlights-


____________________________________________________________________________________________________

So after a nice start to the year integrating at least 4 new players into the starting lineup, including a freshman setter, with what I consider smart scheduling by the coach(es) (playing relatively winnable matches to start the season), the schedule is now going to take a challenging and what I am sure fun turn for the team***.

***Not that it's the greatest analysis, but just using last year's RPI as a ROUGH guide to schedule difficulty, the average RPI at the end of last season for the 6 teams the Buffs have played so far was ~174, with only one (Rice at #66) under 100 in RPI. In the last 5 matches remaining in non-conference, the average RPI of the opponents is ~63, and only one team left in non-conference (Albany at #131) had a higher RPI last season than Rice did.

As indicated in the article's press conference quotes, the next match on Friday is probably the toughest of non-conference, as Penn State is undefeated and beat Defending Champion (and currently ranked #1) Stanford relatively easy a a few days ago (although Stanford was missing an important starter). PSU was ranked #5 in this week's poll, but assume they'll move up at least one after the Stanford win. Also, the Buff's opponent the next day, Illinois, is also undefeated (and will have home court advantage), although like the Buffs they haven't played any great teams yet.
 
I was thinking the same thing about DeLuzio because I haven't seen anybody yet who can set.
 
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