Buffs Shine In Scrimmage

BOULDER – Colorado volleyball and its fans saw the first action of the 2021 team here Saturday in the annual Black and Gold scrimmage with each team taking two sets in the four-set match.
 
Leah Clayton and Meegan Hart were the bright spots offensively with Clayton hitting 26 kills on an outstanding .457 hitting percentage from the pin. Hart owned the middle with 17 kills and a team-best .552 hitting percentage. Maya Tabron also had a strong showing with 15 kills on a .171 hitting percentage and a dozen digs.
 
The pair benefitted from strong setter play as Jenna Ewert led all setters with 52 assists and tied Brynna DeLuzio for the team-best in digs with 18 from each. DeLuzio played limited at setter, putting up 13 assists while freshman Taylor Simpson played exceptional with 34 assists.
 
On the defensive side, Morgan Riddle played well at defensive specialist and libero, putting up 11 digs. Hart led the team with four blocks while Parker and Bella Simkus each had three.
 
As a team, Colorado hit .245 with 112 kills combined. The team also had 18 total blocks.
 
Colorado plays an exhibition against SC State next Friday before opening the season Saturday against Xavier and Charlotte in North Carolina. Home competition begins Sept. 10 when the Buffs host Texas Tech and San Jose State.
 
QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Mahoney
On the scrimmage
"I thought it was really nice. I thought it was great for us to get into a little bit of a match environment and practice that which we don't do very often. It was really nice to be in front of some fans and have a little energy in the building. Along with that, it showed how deep we are at a lot of positions and as we as we go into next week and start competition it's going to be tough to start defining roles but this will help once we kind of analyze it a little bit more and get back into practice."
 
On Maya and Leah at outside
"I haven't checked the stats but by feel, I thought they were both really, really good to be honest. I thought they passed well. They each had a couple kind of wild kills. Defensively, both of them did a really nice job. Like I said, I haven't seen the stats and tried to be objective, but I'm pretty happy with what they were doing."
 
On Taylor Simpson at setter
"Taylor Simpson is a really smooth setter. She sets a really nice ball. She's had a great first two weeks and we're excited about her future in this program. I think she's going to be able to push to get on the floor in certain situations. She's gonna have a great career."
 
On Kelley Levaggi's play
"Kelley the last two seasons has been coming along. Last year she went through an ankle injury and that slowed her down a little bit but she can play left, she can play right. She's really smart player, probably one of our best blockers on the pin. I thought she took some really nice swings in that match."
 
On Alexia and Bella at middle
" I will tell you the most improved award goes to Bella Simkus for the last two weeks. She's really done a nice job. She's drinking from a firehose the first week or so and kind of settled down. When Lex is in a really good rhythm, and plays tall, the way she can be physically, she's going to be a force."
 
STATS