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Matches Thread- VOLLEYBALL visits UNC (Thurs., 8/31/23, 6:00 PM MT) and hosts Xavier (Fri. @ 7:00 PM) & Charlotte (Sat., 6:00 PM MT)

AztecBuff

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VOLLEYBALL (2-1) has its 1st road match of the season as they head to Greeley to play the Univ. of Northern Colorado (UNC, 0-2) Thursday night, then returns home to face 2 more teams, one each on Friday and Saturday. 1st up in Boulder for CU is a match with Xavier (3-0) Friday at 7:00 PM, followed up with a 6:00 PM Saturday match against Charlotte (3-0). (From the preview, all matches in Boulder are part of a "Colorado Classic" Tourney, but that's not noted for the UNC match. However, since UNC is also playing 2 matches in Boulder as part of the tourney, I'd GUESS (???) the match in Greeley might also be part of the tournament so as to most completely name a Tournament Champion, all-tourney team, etc..)

Not that last season means much of anything anymore, but just to maybe get a ROUGH idea on the competition, CU ended up #44 in the last RPI rating in 2022, while UNC was #89, Xavier #107 and Charlotte #185 .

The road match vs. UNC looks to be viewable for those with a ESPN+ subscription, while the 2 Biff home matches are scheduled to be shown on a free live CU provided stream. (It looks like even the matches in Boulder that do NOT include CU have streams planned. Good news for fans of UNC, Xavier and Charlotte vball.)

Go Buffs!!!

Preview - https://cubuffs.com/news/2023/8/29/buffs-prepare-for-colorado-classic.aspx

"
BOULDER – The Colorado Women's Volleyball team (2-1) is scheduled to play another three matches this weekend, one coming on the road while the other two will be played in the CU events center. They will host the annual Colorado Classic, welcoming three other teams to the tournament.

Colorado dropped their first match of the year this past Friday against UNLV but bounced back by sweeping the next two matches over Campbell and North Texas, enough to win the annual Buffs Invitational.

The Buffs will travel to Greeley Thursday evening to take on Northern Colorado at 6:00 p.m. They last played the Bears during the 2021 season, where they proved victorious in four sets on their home court. CU will visit Greeley for just the second time in program history, after losing three sets to none during the 2009 season. It is the only time Colorado has fallen to UNC.

COLORADO CLASSIC

CU will host their second-consecutive tournament at the Events Center this weekend. The participating teams will include Charlotte, Northern Colorado, and Xavier.

Friday, Sept. 1st: UNC vs. Charlotte @ 4:00 p.m. MST, Xavier vs. Colorado @ 7:00 p.m. MST

Saturday, Sept. 2nd: UNC vs. Xavier @ 3:00 p.m. MST, Charlotte vs. Colorado 6:00 p.m. MST

Sunday, Sept. 3rd: Charlotte vs. Xavier @ 11:00 a.m. MST

OPPONENT OVERVIEW

CHARLOTTE

The 49ers are off to a hot start to the 2023 season, winning their first three matches during the Charlotte Invitational. They defeated Charleston Southern, Elon, and Coastal Carolina. Charlotte heads to Boulder looking to take down the Buffs for the first time in school history. In prior meetings, CU swept both matches against the 49ers, once on the road and once at home.

XAVIER

The Musketeers travel to Boulder after going undefeated in the first weekend of play. They went 3-0 in the Cincinnati tournament, losing just two sets. Xavier took down Indiana State, Alabama State, and tournament host Cincinnati. Colorado is 2-0 all-time against the Musketeers, and the two teams last squared off against one another during the 2021 season in Charlotte, North Carolina.

NORTHERN COLORADO

The Bears will head into the Colorado Classic without a win on the young season, after playing two top-ten nationally ranked teams in Stanford and Kentucky. They will first play the Buffs Thursday night in Greeley, then travel to Boulder to take on Xavier and Charlotte.

"
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

More on the opponents -

UNC:
Roster - https://uncbears.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster
Stats - https://uncbears.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats/2023
Schedule/ results for this season - https://uncbears.com/sports/womens-volleyball/schedule/2023
Their preview article for the match with the Buffs - Not available as I type this.

Xavier:
Roster - https://goxavier.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster
Stats - https://goxavier.com/documents/2023/8/29/2023_VB_Season_Stats.pdf
Schedule/ results for this season - https://goxavier.com/sports/womens-volleyball/schedule/2023
Their preview article for the match with the Buffs - Not available as I type this.

Charlotte :
Roster - https://charlotte49ers.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster
Stats - https://charlotte49ers.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats/2023
Schedule/ results for this season - https://charlotte49ers.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 home matches - https://www.statbroadcast.com/events/schedule.php?live=1&gid=colo . Direct links for the matches:
UNC-

SIDEARMLiveStats

Real time live stats for your favorite team powered by SIDEARM Sports. One location for your team's Stat summaries, Individual stats, Team stats, Team leaders, Play by plays, Split Box scores and more.
uncbears.com uncbears.com
Xavier - http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=477240
Charlotte -
Live Video:
Vs. UNC - For those with an ESPN+ subscription, the match is scheduled to be shown on a live stream available at https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/a01889b5-16c1-4a87-918c-269a05746d52.
Vs. Xavier - The match is scheduled to be shown on a free live stream available at https://pac-12.com/live/cubuffs..
Charlotte - The match is scheduled to be shown on a free live stream available at https://pac-12.com/live/cubuffs..

Buffs' 2023 Team Prospectus - https://cubuffs.com/documents/2023/8/21/2023_VB_Prospectus.pdf
 
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Buffs had better be ready for a BATTLE tomorrow night. (As noted in the preview above, UNC started 0-2, but that was mainly due to their starting their season facing 2 (almost always) Top 10 teams in Stanford and Kentucky.)

 
buffgal said:
I say that is more than a minor upset. Buffs better be ready.
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UNC is building a good program. Pi"I Aiu is on their staff. CSU is a puzzle to me. beat KY but was awful against Stanford and lost to UNC. Buffs need to be ready and have their serve/pass game going well.
 
I did not think Pi'i was a good coach, at least a good head coach. Maybe he is okay as an assistant coach. He would let teams get too close to the Buffs to call a time out. He also would wait until the Buffs were out of a set to call the time out. He left so many time outs unused.

Made it frustrating to watch.

Paid for ESPN Plus this morning. I hope the Buffs play very well.

Saw Stanford got beat at home last night.
 
buffgal said:
I did not think Pi'i was a good coach, at least a good head coach. Maybe he is okay as an assistant coach. He would let teams get too close to the Buffs to call a time out. He also would wait until the Buffs were out of a set to call the time out. He left so many time outs unused.

Made it frustrating to watch.

Paid for ESPN Plus this morning. I hope the Buffs play very well.

Saw Stanford got beat at home last night.
Click to expand...
I think he was good with Saindon as the head coach but you could be right that he is a better assistant than head coach. He is there top assistant from the website. If CU will serve and pass consistently, they will have a good season. Still think that way.
 
Pi'i was good as an assistant under Saindon. He sat on the bench and watched his teams lose. CU did fire him and it was time for him to go.

On the basketball side, Jen Tubergen was a great assistant but also was a poor head coach at CSU. She was a great recruiter, but not good with the x's and o's despite recruiting some very good players.
 
It's a good think I set the ESPN Plus app up this morning. It took me over 30 minutes to figure it all out.
 
The match has begun, and the Buffs have gone on a small run to go up 14-10 in the 1st set. Timeout (TO) Bears.
 
After getting a pretty comfortable (believe ~7-8 points?) lead, UNC came storming back with some very nice defensive play, but then CU keeps working and gets the SWEEP 25-22.

Very solid performance pretty much all around, with the Buff serve/ serve receive being the difference, with the passing part help leading to monster matches for the 2 Buff middles. Freshman Bolles was giving the Bears fits all match long from the serve line, and other Buffs tough serving also helped keep the Bears from getting enough consistent passing to get many point runs going.
 
nice performance. did not see it but sounded like they played pretty consistently throughout the match. I still think UNC is a good team
 
Media after tonight's win -



Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2023/8/31/volleyball-buffs-sweep-northern-colorado-on-the-road.aspx

"
GREELEY –
The Colorado Women's Volleyball team (3-1) swept the Northern Colorado Bears (1-3) 25-21, 25-19, 25-22 for their first win away from the CU Events Center this season.

Coming off a tournament win last weekend at home, the Buffs earned their third win and sweep of the 2023 campaign. It marks the fourth straight win against the in-state opponent and the first ever in Greeley.

The transfer from North Carolina, Skyy Howard, put her skills on display all night long. Howard posted a season-high 10 kills, but started the match with a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage for her first nine kills. Howard ended the night with a .909% hitting percentage on 11 total attempts and four blocks, leading the team in that category for the third-straight match.

Team leader in kills for the 2022 season, Maya Tabron, had a .391% hitting percentage with 11 kills, tying a season-high. First year Avery Bolles set a season and career-high in service aces with four on the night. Taylor Simpson contributed 23 assists to the Buffs' standout win.

"Any win on the road is a good win, and a sweep is even better," head coach Jesse Mahoney commented after the match. "In each set, we had a couple of very good serving runs that created some separation, and we were able to hold the lead at the end of each set. Skyy was really efficient when we got her the ball, and Maya was steady in all phases. We have a quick turnaround now for a very good Xavier team."

CU will return home for two more matches this weekend, participating in the Colorado Classic. They will square off against

CU returns home to play Xavier tomorrow night at 7 p.m MT in their first match of the Colorado Classic. They will square off against Charlotte Saturday night at 6 p.m.
...
"
_________________________________________________________________________________

Box score - https://cubuffs.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats/2023/northern-colorado/boxscore/16424
 
Another solid match for the Buffs moves their sweep streak to 4 as they hand Xavier their 1st loss of the season by 25-16 25-20 25-10 set scores. (Among the Musketeers' previous wins was one vs. future Buff conference-mate Cincinnati.)

Way to go Buffs!
 
This match was never in doubt. There appeared to be some students in the student section.

The first two matches CU has played in this tournament have each been under 90 minutes in playing time.
 
Media after last night's win.

Article -



Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2023/9/1/volleyball-buffs-dominate-first-match-of-colorado-classic.aspx

"
BOULDER - The Colorado women's volleyball team (4-1) handed the Xavier Musketeers (25-16, 25-20, 25-10) their first loss of the season Friday night. The Buffs have defeated their last four opponents without dropping a single set.

CU had an outstanding attacking night, hitting .452 while holding the Musketeers to a .070 attack percentage. The Buffs picked up 33 digs throughout the course of the evening, and setter Taylor Simpson led the team with eight. Outside hitter Lexi Hadrych led the Buffs in kills with 13 to finish with a .579 attack percentage.

First year Lily Dwinell set a new career high in kills for a single match with eight on 14 attempts and zero errors to close out the evening with a .571 hitting percentage. Defensively, she had five block assists.

"We built momentum throughout the match, and the energy was great," Dwinell commented. "We were playing well together. It made the match fun. We were able to get Xavier off their system a lot and that made our blocking a lot easier. Also with good ball control, we were able to put balls away."

Skyy Howard continued to be a dynamic force at the net, ending the night with a .545 attack percentage with seven kills. She made it difficult for the Musketeers to find the floor as she led CU in blocks with 4 total blocks.

Howard commented that preparation before the match helped her lock in on her hitters. "We were all mentally locked into Xavier's offensive patterns, and it was something that we had not really seen before," Howard said. "I was making sure that I knew my hitter, knew what was coming at us, and that I wasn't losing sight. This all helped me with blocking today."

The match also saw several new Buff faces. Bella Simkus and Emilea Stepaniuk made their season debuts while Ana Burilović made her career debut.

"Offensively, it was our best match of the season," said head coach Jesse Mahoney after the game. "It was also our best passing match. We passed a 2.5, and with the athleticism we have, it is going to be a problem for the other team. Xavier is a good team, and they do a lot of diverse things. I liked the fact that we got better in each set and that is what you saw in the last set. We really smothered them with our blocks. I am excited about the level we are playing. And we have a quick turnaround to play a good team tomorrow."

CU will face Charlotte (3-1) in their third and final game of the Colorado Classic tomorrow at 6 p.m. Currently, the Buffs are first in the Colorado Classic.
...
"
_______________________________________________________________

Box score - https://cubuffs.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats/2023/xavier/boxscore/16428




 
Match about to start as lineups are being announced.

Buffs going with a largely young and largely inexperienced lineup tonight, with, if I remember correctly, frosh right-side hitter Lily Dwinnell being the only starter tonight who has started previous matches.
 
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VERY comfortable win (25-15, 25-16, 25-20) with the generally young and generally bench Buffs able to go the full way and get some great experience. (I have NO volleyball talent evaluation skills, but looks like the future could be bright when at least some of the starters tonight I assume become full-time starters in future years (and in some cases NEXT year).)

 
I didn't watch because I'm still too wound up from the big football win (WOOHOO!!) and the other CFB games going on today, but based on the stats and write up it looks like it was a successful day for our volleyball team as well. Getting those backup players out there with a different setter and cleanly running the system is huge for this season and beyond. Those players took full advantage of their opportunities today. They only had FOUR attack errors. Allsome. On to KU and Wichita State. Go BUFFS!!!
 
The young Buffs looked quite good last night. Jesse was 4 for 4 on challenges much to the dismay of the Charlotte coach. On her only challenge, the point stood and did she let the officials have it.

Keep up the great work!
 
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