Buffs Fall To No. 19 Baylor

BOULDER— The University of Colorado volleyball team fell to No. 19 Baylor University 25-14, 25-19, 25-15 on Saturday night in front of 904 at the Coors Events Center.

With the loss, Colorado falls to 5-10 overall and 0-6 in the Big 12. Baylor improves to 15-1 overall, 6-1 in the Big 12.

“At this point in the season to still be seeking our first conference win is not where we want to be, but the path we have travelled is extremely challenging and the progress this team is making has not yet been evident in the win-loss column,” head coach Liz Kritza said.

“With each match we play, different players are honing their skills and gaining valuable experience which this group clearly needs to be able to make some noise in this very challenging conference.”

Becah Fogle has been a leader this season for the Buffs on both sides of the stats sheet. She led the Buffs in the match with 10 kills and recorded a double-double with 10 digs.

“These players are getting antsy for a conference win though, players like Becah Fogle who has been improving over the last few matches and put forth a strong showing tonight with her double-double in kills and digs,” Kritza said. “It will be more players playing like that on a consistent basis that will lead to success on the scoreboard.”

Rosie Steinhaus recorded nine kills in the effort and Kerra Schroeder added six. As a team, Colorado hit .138 with 31 kills and 15 errors on 116 attacks. Steinhaus led the Buffs defensively with 11 of their 51 digs in the match. Schroeder picked up nine digs.

Schylur Edelman played in her third match for Colorado since returning from her injury. She tallied three kills and two digs but had no blocks in the effort.

“It’s definitely a process getting back,” Edelman said about her return. “I’m just a little slow and off my game. The more we practice; the coaches have me doing a lot of live drills. I definitely feel like I’m getting back into it. The team’s great, they pay attention to when I’m a little off with timing. They are really talking me through it. All of us are working super hard every day in practice. Same goes for me even though I have been out for a little while.”

The Bears hit .325 in the match. They recorded 51 kills with just 12 errors on 120 attacks. The defense recorded 58 digs.

Colorado did a nice job avoiding Baylor’s block, which ranks second in the Big 12 with 2.68 per set. The Bears only put up 4.0 team blocks in the entire match.

Baylor took a 13-9 lead in the first set before CU used its first timeout. After the break, the Buffs won a long rally off a kill from Steinhaus but couldn’t hold serve and dropped the following six points before a kill from Schroeder got serve back for Colorado. The two teams sided out for the next eight points but at 22-14 Baylor finished the set with three straight. The Buffs started out the first half of the set hitting .316 but finished with a .190 hitting percentage with 11 kills and three errors on 42 swings. The Bears hit .350 with 17 kills and three errors on 40 attacks.

Once again the Bears took the lead in the second set. The Buffs tried to slow down BU’s momentum by calling a timeout at 11-6 and did so with a kill from Steinhaus. Colorado took six of the next eight points to get back within one point at 13-12 and this time it was Baylor using a timeout to slow down the Buffs’ offense. Off of the timeout, Steinhaus recorded CU’s first ace of the match to tie the set at 13. Baylor regained the lead with a 6-2 run to go up 19-15. The Buffs took the next two points, but BU answered back taking the following three points for a 22-17 advantage. Colorado fought but fell 25-19. The Buffs hit .184 compared to Baylor’s .293 attack percentage.

Baylor took a 10-4 lead in the final set but Colorado did not let up and continued to fight. Over the course of the next 11 points, CU recorded five of those. Unfortunately CU didn’t have enough time to catch up to Baylor, which had taken a 10-point lead at 19-9. The Buffs took the next three straight points, two of those coming from Fogle who recorded a kill and a block. Colorado finished the set strong but was unable to make up the 10-point difference in the score, falling 25-15.

The Buffs will be back in action on Wednesday, October 7 against Missouri in Columbia, Mo.

“We remain optimistic and even more determined to work harder to get this team playing at the level they are capable of playing at,” Kritza said. “The response to this match is to rebound and get back in the gym and work to prepare for another quality opponent next week in Missouri.”

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.   

COLORADO BUFFALOES

Kritza Quotes:

“At this point in the season to still be seeking our first conference win is not where we want to be, but the path we have travelled is extremely challenging and the progress this team is making has not yet been evident in the win-loss column.”

“With each match we play, different players are honing their skills and gaining valuable experience which this group clearly needs to be able to make some noise in this very challenging conference.”

 “These players are getting antsy for a conference win though, players like Becah Fogle who has been improving over the last few matches and put forth a strong showing tonight with her double-double in kills and digs. It will be more players playing like that on a consistent basis that will lead to success on the scoreboard.”

“We remain optimistic and even more determined to work harder to get this team playing at the level they are capable of playing at. The response to this match is to rebound and get back in the gym and work to prepare for another quality opponent next week in Missouri.”

Athlete Quotes:

Schylur Edelman

“I don’t think we played to our full potential tonight. Some aspects of our game just weren’t clicking. We’re a young team and we’re going to keep working on it and once we do, we’re going to start to see the score indicate what we are capable of. We know what we’re capable of because we’ve seen glimpses of it, but it’s hard when you don’t go out and show it every night. Consistency is key for us; we’re going to keep working on putting all aspects together on one night.”

“We are definitely disappointed. We’re very competitive people which is why we are playing here. At the same time, we are very young and implementing a whole new system and it’s going to take time. The coaches and whole team get frustrated because we know what we can do so we keep hammering away and know that when we get back in the gym on Monday, that we are going to correct our mistakes and do better next time.”

“It’s definitely a process getting back. I’m just a little slow and off my game. The more we practice, coaches have me doing a lot of live drills. I definitely feel like I’m getting back into it. The team’s great, they pay attention to when I’m a little off with timing. They are really talking me through it. All of us are working super hard every day in practice. Same goes for me even though I have been out for a little while.”

Becah Fogle

“We’re very close, look at the Kansas game; we were high energy. Every practice we are improving.”

“I know we will get a win soon. Our hard work is going to pay off. It’s going to be soon, I feel it. We are improving.”