Colorado Sweeps Beavers

BOULDER – The University of Colorado women's volleyball team swept Oregon State 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-19) here Sunday afternoon behind a strong team hitting performance.
 
The 24th-ranked Buffaloes (11-2, 2-2 Pac-12) earned their 11th win hitting .322 and holding the Beavers (2-12, 0-4 Pac-12) to a .126 hitting percentage behind nine CU blocks.
 
Outside hitter Maya Tabron led the team with 13 kills and a .435 hitting percentage. She also added in nine digs and a pair of blocks. Alexia Kuehl also had a strong showing hitting .462 with seven kills and leading Colorado with five blocks. They were joined by Jill Schneggenburger with seven kills and Meegan Hart with six.
 
Jenna Ewert led the offense with 33 assists and was one of three players to put down an ace. On the defensive side, Hart had four blocks while Jahara Campbell added three. Brynna DeLuzio led the team with a dozen digs.
 
Oregon State's Maddie Goings led the Beavers with a match-high 14 kills while hitting .235. She was also targeted the most with 21 receptions, more than doubling the rest of the team.
 
The Buffaloes head on the road next week for a pair of conference matchups against ranked UCLA Friday at 9 p.m. MT and follow it up against USC at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET ONE: CU jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead, but the Beavers put down three straight to tie it at five. Colorado went on a five-point run to force Oregon State into a timeout at 12-6 with CU hitting .500 and Tabron with an early four kills. The Buffs extended their lead to 18-13 with Tabron earning six kills on a .556 clip. OSU called its second timeout at 20-13. Set point came at 24-15, ending on Tabron's seventh kill. Tabron finished with seven kills hitting .600 while Colorado finished as a team hitting .469.
 
SET TWO: Oregon State made some changes and worked out to a 5-2 lead. Tabron tied it up with her ninth kill of the match on a three-point run to five. Tabron earned her 10th kill and the Buffs took a 14-10 lead with Kuehl hitting .800 with four kills and three blocks. CU's sixth block came at 16-10 and forced a Beaver timeout. Colorado called timeout when OSU went on a four-point run to make it 17-15. Oregon State closed the gap to 21-20 and force a CU timeout. Oregon State took the lead 22-21 but serving into the net to tie it all up. Schneggenburger gave CU the lead and forced a Beaver timeout. CU earned set point up by two, finishing it off a play later on a four-point run. CU continued to hit well with a .390 percentage as both Schneggenburger and Kuehl had six kills to go along with Tabron's 11.
 
SET THREE: After giving up the first point, CU went on a four-point run. The Buffs rallied to a 10-6 lead behind Schneggenburger's seven kills and a .429 hitting percentage. OSU called timeout at 14-8 hitting -.067 in the set. Colorado hit the 20-point mark up by five behind 13 kills from Tabron. Match point came at 24-18, closing it out at 25-19 with the ninth block of the match.
 
QUOTES
HEAD COACH JESSE MAHONEY
On The Win
We fought hard on Friday. We had a really quick turnaround. With the early film session yesterday morning and practice, like always, this team is really good about being focused and focusing on the next match instead of the last match. We had a great session on Saturday, and we were energized to play this match. I know (Oregon State's) record, but that's still a Pac-12 team and a good team with some high-level players on it. I was happy that we won and certainly happy to get a sweep. Those don't happen in this league very often.
 
On Being Able To Bounce Back After Friday's Loss Against Oregon
Last week was a little bit of a stressful week with losing a couple of players and having to reshuffle some things and figure out a lineup that works and makes sense for us. We're still evolving a little bit. We lose someone who scores us five points a set -- everyone else has to step up. We're looking to continue to build and continue to get better going on the road in the Pac-12. It's always tough, especially against two really good teams (in UCLA and USC). We're going to have to continue to grow.
 
MAYA TABRON
On What Was Working During the Game
In general, we passed well, and we served well. That made it a lot easier for Jenna (Ewert) to set up all the hitters. We were all a little bit tired, but we all played through it. We were making smart shots. That put our energy up and helped get points up on the board.
 
On The Stressful Week
It was a stressful week, but we bounced back as a team. We had a meeting, talked about it, and said, "Hey, that's something that we've got to leave in the past. If you're frustrated about it, speak it out and talk with us." Right now, we've got to move on and work with the players that we do have on the court. This week, since we had a couple days to do it, we'll take this week and bounce back again.
 
ALEXIA KUEHL
On Team Defense
Our pin blocker set up the block really well, which made it easier for me to get out there. It was a pretty solid block and we forced them to make some errors too.
 
On The Stressful Week
We've done a really good job at coming together as a team since it has been stressful this week, lifting each other up and being there for each other. That's helped us a lot.