Hot Streaking No. 3 USC Holds Off Buffs
LOS ANGELES -The University of Colorado volleyball team had another tough battle and eventually lost 25-18, 25-14, 25-17 on Saturday night against the No. 3 USC Women of Troy at Galen Center. The win was the 12th in a row for USC.
"We ran into an extremely tough challenge tonight, and despite trying to hold on to the momentum we gained yesterday, USC was simply too much for us tonight," coach Liz Kritza said. "They are such a balanced team and are playing with great confidence.
"Hard lessons are not new for us in this league, but we must take the positives that we can do something with them. When you take a step in the right direction, you have to keep moving and we simply were not able to take another big step tonight, but it fuels our desire to work even harder and keep coming back until we get the results we want."
Kerra Schroeder led the Buffs with 10 kills and Elysse Richardson recorded 10 digs for CU. Kelsey English, Nikki Lindow and Neira Ortiz Ruiz each added three kills for the Buffs.
"Kerra showed strength tonight in that last set when she was taking big swings when we were in tough situations; a positive for her and something we will need as we continue to face top opponents," Kritza said.
Alex Jupiter led USC with nine kills and Natalie Hagglund led the match with 15 digs.
The Women of Troy took a 5-1 lead to start the match, but the Buffs rallied back to even the score at 7-7. USC retook the lead, this time going up 17-12, but CU continued to battle before falling 25-18 in the frame. The Buffs hit well, recording nine kills and just two errors on 29 attacks for a .249 hitting percentage. USC hit .294 with 16 kills and six errors on 34 swings.
The Buffs took a 5-3 lead to start the second set before USC came back to take an 11-6 lead. The Trojans increased their lead to 19-11 and the deficit proved to be too large for the Buffs despite their best effort as they fell 25-14. USC hit .381 and held CU to -.161 in the set.
USC took an 8-5 lead to start the third set and extended it to 11-6. Colorado tried to chip away at the Trojans' lead, but their efforts weren't enough and USC went on to win the set, and the match, 25-17. The Women of Troy hit .441 in the set while the Buffs hit .114.
With the loss CU fell to 5-16 overall, 0-13 in the Pac-12, while the Women of Troy improved to 17-3, 12-1 in the league. The Buffs stay on the road next weekend for a pair of matches against Oregon State on Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. MST and No. 18 Oregon on Oct. 30 at 2 p.m. MST.
And don't forget to check out the latest news and highlights with coach Kritza on This Week in Colorado Volleyball, exclusively on BuffsTV at CUBuffs.com/volleyball. New shows air every Tuesday.