No. 23 Colorado Blanks Louisiana

HOUSTON — The University of Colorado recorded its second straight sweep on Saturday afternoon, blanking Louisiana-Lafayette 25-15, 25-21, 25-23.

“We are glad to escape with the victory in this match and look for an improved performance tonight,” head coach Liz Kritza said. “With a quick turnaround in these tournaments, it is important for the team to focus on the right things that we can improve on quickly and prepare for the next opponent.”

Senior Alexis Austin recorded 16 kills and hit .394 to lead the Buffs past ULL. Sophomore Gabby Simpson also hit double-digits in kills with 10. The Buffs recorded 44 total kills in the match and committed just 15 errors on 106 attempt to hit a .274 hitting efficiency. Again senior Nicole Edelman took charge of the setting duties for the Buffs, passing out 32 of 40 assists. She also had two kills of her own.

Edelman played well on defense as well for the Buffs, leading the charge with 16 digs. Junior Cierra Simpson added seven digs and sophomore Stephanie Shadley had six. In total, CU picked up 44 digs, while ULL had 37 in the contest.

The Buffs also out-blocked ULL 7.0-5.0, with three players posting three blocks. Sophomore Anna Pfefferle and junior Katelyn Cuff each tallied three block assists, while freshman Naghede Abu had one block solo and two block assists.

CU held ULL to a .050 attack percentage. The Ragin Cajuns tallied 28 kills and 23 errors on 100 attacks. They hit -.240 in the first set, .086 in the second set and .200 in the third. Their best hitter was Stacey Reilly, who recorded 11 kills and hit .318 with four errors on 22 swings.

The Buffs had a fairly easy time in the first two sets, but ULL put up a better fight in the third. CU had a 15-11 lead when ULL came back to even the set at 17-17. The Ragin Cajuns went ahead on the next point and had a 21-18 lead, forcing the Buffs to dig deep to avoid a fourth set.

CU rallied back to tie the frame at 22-22 with a 4-1 run that included three kills from Austin. The Buffs went on to take the following point with a block by Gabby Simpson and Pfefferle. A ULL attack error gave CU set point and after a kill by Keely Hayes (ULL), the Buffs finished the set with another kill from Austin.

“Alexis came up big to give us the lift we needed to finish this match in three set,” Kritza said. “She played like a veteran and was a strong leader when we needed it most.”

The Buffs finish the Rice Adidas Invitational Saturday night against Rice (7-2) at 6 p.m. MT. The match will be streamed for a fee and live stats are free at RiceOwls.com.  

“We are not finished working for the day,” Kritza said. “We will have our toughest challenge of the weekend tonight against a strong Rice team, so we look forward to a strong performance.”