No. 19 Buffs Head To Cal and No. 1 Stanford
BOULDER— Only four matches remain in the 2014 regular season and this weekend the University of Colorado is heading to Northern California for a pair of matches. The Buffs will face California on Friday, Nov. 21, in Berkeley, Calif. and on Saturday, Nov. 22, CU will take on Stanford. Both contests are slated to start at 8 p.m. MT.
Neither match will be televised on TV, but both will be streamed live online. (Cal: http://pac-12.com/videos/university-california; Stanford: http://pac-12.com/videos/stanford-university) Live stats will be available at CUBuffs.com.
The Buffs (17-11, 9-7 Pac-12) are ranked 19th in the latest AVCA Division I Coaches Poll after handing then-No. 2 Washington its first loss of the season in five sets on Nov. 13. CU also defeated Washington State on Nov. 16.
Senior Taylor Simpson ranks third in the Pac-12 and is 10th in the NCAA with 4.64 kills per set. She has recorded 487 kills this season to lead the Buffs and is hitting .302. Simpson also ranked 15th in the NCAA in points per set with 5.16. Junior Alexis Austin has tallied 214 kills this season (2.97 kills per set), while senior Neira Ortiz Ruiz has 184 kills this year (2.02 per set).
The Buffs are attacking at a .251 clip and have held their opponents to a .206 hitting percentage. Junior Nicole Edelman and freshman Gabby Simpson have each spent time setting for the Buffs. Edelman is averaging 7.65 assists per set (681 assists), which is eighth in the conference, while Gabby Simpson is recording 4.89 assists per set (528 assists).
CU is fourth in the Pac-12 with 1.20 service aces. As a team, they have recorded 131 aces this season and are led by sophomore Cierra Simpson, who ranks 10th in the league with 0.26 aces per set (28 total aces).
Defensively the Buffs are also led by Cierra Simpson, who is averaging 3.87 digs per set, the 10th best mark in the league. She has picked up 422 digs this year and has recorded 20 or more digs nine times this season. Taylor Simpson is second on the team with 2.65 digs per set and Edelman is third with 2.00 digs per set.
CU is also blocking well, averaging 2.42 blocks per set. In conference only matches, the Buffs are second with 2.52 blocks per set. Freshman Anna Pfefferle leads the Buffs with 1.17 blocks per set (10 block solos and 109 block assists), the fourth best in the conference. She is also third in conference only matches with 1.31 blocks per set. Sophomore Katelyn Cuff ranks second on the team with 0.76 blocks per set.
Cal is 9-17 this season and is tied for 11th in the conference with Washington State (1-15). The Bears recorded their first win of the Pac-12 season last week against No. 21 USC. Cal defeated the Trojans 3-2 in L.A.
Christina Higgins leads the Bears with 3.78 kills per set and is attaching at a .244 clip. Cal is hitting .215 under the direction of Alyssa Jensen, who is averaging 12.22 assists per set. Defensively, Maddy Kerr is picking up 4.09 digs per set and Lillian Schonewise is posting 0.99 blocks per set.
Cal leads the series against the Buffs 5-3. CU defeated the Bears 3-1 on Oct. 19 in Boulder.
Stanford is the only undefeated team left in the NCAA at 26-0 overall (16-0 Pac-12) and is the top-ranked team in the AVCA Coaches Poll. Last weekend the Cardinal swept USC and UCLA in L.A.
Inky Ajanaku is fifth in the NCAA, second in the Pac-12, with a .447 hitting percentage and ranks ninth in the league with 3.63 kills per set. Merete Lutz ranks third in the nation with a .454 hitting efficiency and is recording 2.57 kills per set. The Cardinal lead the Pac-12 with a .315 hitting percentage. Madi Bugg is averaging an NCAA-best 12.03 assists per set and Kyle Gilbert is the Pac-12 leader in digs per set (4.82). Lutz is fifth in the league with 1.16 blocks per set and Ajanaku is sixth with 1.15 blocks per set.
Stanford is 13-0 against the Buffs. CU came close to upsetting the Cardinal on Oct. 17 in Boulder. The Buffs were up 2-1, but SU came back to defeat CU 3-2.