No. 10 Iowa State Defeats Buffs
AMES, Iowa — Rosie Steinhaus led the Buffs with nine kills but it wasn’t enough as the University of Colorado volleyball team fell to No. 10 Iowa State on Wednesday night 18-25, 14-25, 13-25 at Hilton Coliseum to start the Big 12 Conference season.
On the season the Buffs fall to 5-5 overall and ISU improves to 9-1. This was the first league contest for both teams.
“Tonight was another bump in the road on our path to building a high level program,” head coach Liz Kritza said. “I know that with this young squad there will be ups and downs, but I expect much more from this team and more importantly, they expect much more from themselves.
“The only way to become a championship program is to work hard and continue to measure yourself against the best, and fortunately for us, we get that chance many times over during the Big 12 season. We must be focused and disciplined enough to rise to that challenge every chance that we get to play one of the nation's top teams.”
Steinhaus led CU for the second straight contest while Becah Fogle was second with eight kills. Alex Penewell attacked at a team-best .333 with three kills on six swings with one error. The Buffs hit .124 in the match with 27 kills and 16 errors on 89 attacks. Kaitlyn Burkett handed out 18 assists in the effort.
On defense, the Buffs picked up 29 kills compared to ISU’s 42. Ellen Henry recorded a team-high nine digs and Kerra Schroeder added seven. Steinhaus also recorded six. Schroeder and Steinhaus each added a pair of block assists.
The Cyclones got out to an early 7-3 lead in the first set. The Buffs charged back and got within two points at 9-11, but once again ISU pulled away, this time to a 19-13 advantage. CU was unable to complete the comeback and fell 18-25. The Buffs did hit .333 in the set with a match-high 12 kills, but ISU recorded a .517 percentage. Steinhaus had the hot hand for CU and recorded five kills. Schroeder hit .500 with four kills on eight errorless attacks.
ISU controlled the second set from the start as it took a 5-1 lead. The Buffs tried to switch up things in the middle of the set by putting Megan Cyr in at setter but the switch didn’t seem to change the flow of the set for CU and it dropped the frame 14-25. This time the Buffs hit .000 with seven kills on 33 swings.
Burkett got back into action in the third set for CU and the Buffs got out to a 3-1 start. After allowing ISU to take seven of the next nine points, the Buffs tied it back up at 8. But the Cyclones went on a 9-1 run to take control of the set and went on to win the match 13-25.
The schedule will stay tough for CU as it will return home for three consecutive matches, two of which are against ranked teams. The Buffs will host No. 8 Nebraska at the Coors Events Center on Saturday, Sept. 19 and follow up that match against No. 2 Texas on Wednesday, Sept. 23. The last match of the home stand is on Saturday, Sept. 26 against Oklahoma at which CU’s SAAC (Student-Athlete Advisory Committee) will host their annual Coats For Colorado collection. All of the contests start at 7 p.m.
“We will get back in the gym and work on our techniques and learn from tonight's difficult loss to make a step in the right direction,” Kritza said.
Don’t forget to check out the latest news and highlights with head coach Liz Kritza on the Buffalo Stampede: Volleyball Edition, exclusively on BuffsTV at www.cubuffs.com/volleyball. New shows air every Tuesday. Simply go to BuffsTV and click on the Buffalo Volleyball Stampede Channel for free insight into Colorado Volleyball.
COLORADO BUFFALOES
Quotes:
Head Coach Liz Kritza
Tonight was another bump in the road on our path to building a high level program. I know that with this young squad there will be ups and downs, but I expect much more from this team and more importantly, they expect much more from themselves.
Although we did not fare nearly as well as we would have liked to, we will use this to fuel our improvement both individually and as a team.
The only way to become a championship program is to work hard and continue to measure yourself against the best, and fortunately for us, we get that chance many times over during the Big 12 season. We must be focused and disciplined enough to rise to that challenge every chance that we get to play one of the nation's top teams.
We will get back in the gym and work on our techniques and learn from tonight's difficult loss to make a step in the right direction.
When we take it on the chin like we did tonight, I can promise you that it will be worthwhile and use it to improve.