Buffs Get Impressive Road Win At Oregon State Behind Ewert And DeLuzio
CORVALLIS, Ore. -- It was a night for career highs, and the Colorado Volleyball team needed all of them to knock off Oregon State 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 26-24, 25-19) here at Gill Coliseum Friday night.
Jenna Ewert and Brynna DeLuzio both set new career highs for digs, DeLuzio getting 30 and Ewert 23. Ewert added 37 assists, four blocks, three kills and three aces in a well-rounded effort.
"Those two won that match for us," CU coach Jesse Mahoney said. "Jenna is on a bit of a bum wheel, she was fantastic. And that is as good as I've seen Brynna play."
DeLuzio's previous career high for digs was 28 against Illinois earlier this season. Ewert hit the 20-dig mark for the first time and thus recorded her first 20-20 match. Her previous career best was 19 digs two times, including against Colorado State earlier this season.
Offensively, Maya Tabron registered a career high 19 kills, the second straight match she's set or tied her career best performance, and added 11 digs. Jill Schneggenburger added a double-double with 10 kills and 13 digs.
The win snaps a three-match losing streak and improves the Buffs to 13-7 overall and 4-7 in league play. The Beavers fall to 3-18 overall and 1-10 in conference action.
The Buffs remain in Oregon to take on the Ducks Sunday.
SET ONE:
The first set was even early, with five ties in the first seven points of the match. Tied 7-7, the Beavers strung together three straight points to take a 10-7 advantage. OSU then extended the lead to six points at 17-11 and held that advantage until 22-16. The Buffs then had a 4-0 run to close within two at 22-20 before the Beavers responded and won the set 25-22. Tabron led the way with six kills while four other Buffs had two kills. Ewert had nine digs and DeLuzio six in the set.
SET TWO
The Buffs came out strong in the second set, getting the first six points of the set to open up a 6-0 lead and the Buffs never looked back. The Buffs built the lead to eight points at 12-4 and held a similar margin until the score was 22-14. OSU made a mini run to pull within five at 22-17 before the Buffs closed out the set, 25-18. Ewert's serving was the difference of the match, as she was at the serve in the initial 6-0 run with two aces, and added another ace later in the set to go along with five more digs. Tabron added four more kills to push her total to 10.
SET THREE
The Beavers were first off the block in the third set, taking a quick 2-0 lead and holding the advantage for the first half of the set, opening up as big as a four point lead at 12-8. The Buffs then whittled away at that lead, tying the set at 13-13 and 14-14 before a 4-0 run gave the an 18-14 advantage. OSU then responded to tie the set at 19-19 with a 5-1 run. CU responded with its own 4-0 run to make it 23-19, but the back-and-forth runs continued and the Beavers tied it at 24-24 before CU closed it out 26-24. Tabron added seven more kills offensively and on defense, Ewert and DeLuzio continued their great play as both sat at the 20-dig mark through three sets as the Buffs racked up 31 digs as a team in the set.
SET FOUR
OSU opened up hot in the fourth set after the Buffs opened up a quick 2-1 lead to take an early 7-3 advantage. The Buffs used a 5-1 run to move with 8-7 with the help of two blocks from Ewert. OSU scored the next three points to force a CU timeout at 11-7. That proved to be a well-used timeout from coach Jesse Mahoney, as the Buffs then rattled off nine of the next 12 points to take a 16-14 lead and force the Beavers to take a timeout. The Buffs, however, kept momentum after OSU's first timeout and extended their lead to 19-16 before the Beavers took their final timeout.
JESSE MAHONEY QUOTES:
On Getting A Road Win
"Everyone in this league is really good and everyone's really good on their home floor. We took care of this team in the first round at our place. They are a team fighting to get wins and I'm sure it felt like this was one that they could get. You saw on the first set. I thought they they played really well with a lot of energy and it took us a set-and-a-half to kind of match that energy but once we did, I felt like we played well. If we're not making errors, we're pretty good and we can play with anybody."
On The Third Set
"The third set is the the key in every match. That one came down to the wire we were up and and gave away some points, but found a way to execute at the end and I thought we played a really nice fourth set afterwards.
On Jenna Ewert And Brynna DeLuzio
"Jenna obviously is really good. There are a lot of good setters out there but she does everything well. She serves well, blocks well, defends, and she was on a bum wheel. And you have to account for her as an attacker, as well. And Brynna, that was as good as I've seen her play. Those two kids won that match for us.