Buffs Fall To Mizzou

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Colorado volleyball team fell in four sets to the University of Missouri 25-15, 25-14, 25-27, 25-18 on Wednesday night in front of 1,445 at the Hearnes Center.

With the loss, Colorado falls to 5-11 overall and 0-7 in the Big 12. Missouri improves to 11-6 overall, 3-3 in the Big 12.

"This team has the opportunity to improve every time we play against a Big 12 opponent," head coach Liz Kritza said. "Tonight we improved as a team with some different faces on the court contributing and we will use this as a springboard for continuing with our quest to field a high-level team on a consistent basis."

Becah Fogle led the Buffs with 10 kills and recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 11 digs. Rosie Steinhaus added nine kills and Schylur Edelman tallied eight kills in the loss. Nikki Kinzer hit a team-high .571 with four kills on seven errorless swings. Edelman was second at .400. (She had eight kills and two errors on 15 attacks.) CU recorded 36 kills in the match and hit .099.

Three Buffs, including Fogle, recorded 10 or more digs in the effort. Kerra Schroeder had a team-high 14 digs and Katie Evanyo, a junior who was added to the roster on Monday, added 10 digs in her CU debut. In total, the Buffs had 56 digs.

Colorado's block was led by Kinzer. She posted five block assists and Steinhaus added a trio of block assists. Schroeder had one block solo while Fogle and Megan Cyr each recorded one block assist.

Julianna Klein and Paola Ampudia each recorded 14 kills for Missouri and Caitlyn Vann had a match-high 23 digs.

Mizzou used a 7-0 run to take a 9-2 lead in the first set. Colorado went on its own 7-3 run to get back within three points at 9-12 but the Tigers answered right back with another 7-2 run (19-11). CU was able to get five more points in the set but Mizzou closed it out 25-15. Julianna Klein recorded five aces in the frame for Mizzou. CU hit .034 with eight kills and seven errors on 29 attacks but the Tigers hit at a .276 clip with 12 kills and just four errors on 29 swings.

The second set started out the same with the Tigers taking an early 10-3 lead and increased it to 15-4. The Buffs got their offense going in the middle of the set with a 5-1 run (11-19), but the deficit was too large to recover from and Missouri took the set 25-14. Once again CU recorded eight kills, this time with six errors on 38 swings. MU hit .324 with 15 kills and four errors on 34 attacks.

Mizzou took a 13-5 in the third set and increased it to 20-12. At that point, CU got its momentum going and was back within two points thanks to a 6-0 run. After a quick MU timeout, the Buffs took another point off the Tigers before MU was able to side out. CU tied the set up at 21 and took the lead at 23-22. The Buffs had set point at 24-23, but MU answered back with a pair of points to earn its first match point (25-24). This time it was CU that answered back with a pair of points to once again have set point. Schroeder finished it off for the Buffs with a kill (27-25).  CU hit .149 that set with 11 kills and only four errors on 47 swings while MU hit .123 with 16 kills and nine errors on 57 attacks.

"The comeback that the group on the floor put together in the third set was a positive step for this team tonight," Kritza said. "When they play in our system with confidence then we will have similar results against other quality opponents. It was good to see them pull that set out, especially since we came back from an 8 point deficit to win that set.

The Buffs fell behind early in the fourth set, allowing MU to take a 9-2 lead. CU didn't give up and started to get back in the frame. At the midway point, the Buffs were down 14-9 but kept trying to chip away at the lead. MU took a 22-12 lead and then Colorado went on a 6-1 run to get back within five points (23-18). Unfortunately it was too late as the Tigers finished the set 25-18. The Buffs hit .148 in the set with nine kills and five errors on 27 attempts and MU hit .400 with 16 kills and four errors on 30 swings.

"We struggled in our serve receive which created large leads for the opponents in every set," Kritza said. "When playing at this level, those large leads are difficult to overcome and this team needs to take that lesson from tonight's match. We will continue to be diligent in our training and will remain focused on our continual improvement as we use this bye weekend to prepare for our next conference opponent, Texas Tech."

The Buffs will be back in action on Wednesday, October 14, when they host Texas Tech at the Coors Events Center. First serve is set for 7 p.m.

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