No. 18 Colorado Overpowers Chicago State

BOULDER — The 18^th ranked Colorado volleyball team proved to be too much for the visiting Chicago State Cougars as the Buffs swept CSU 25-12, 25-10, 25-11 on Friday night at the Omni Invitational.

WHAT HAPPENED: The Buffs came out strong and fast against Chicago State, hitting .453 in the match, the team's best mark of the season, to easily move past the Cougars. CU recorded 44 kills and just five errors on 23 attacks in the victory and held the Cougars to a .011 hitting percentage with 20 kills and 19 errors on 89 swings.

Kiara McKibben and Gabby Simpson combined for 33 of CU's 40 assists en route to CU's season high hitting percentage. Simpson also had one of the best attack percentages (.750) on the team with nine kills on 12 errorless attacks. The best hitting percentage went to Naghede Abu, who hit .800 with four kills. Joslyn Hayes hit .500 with six kills on 12 attacks (no errors).

Alexa Smith led the Buffs with 10 kills and hit .474 with only one error on 19 swings and Justine Spann, a freshman, hit .412 with nine kills (a career high) in the win. Spann was also a strong defensive player, adding 10 digs.

SET 1: The Buffs dominated the first set and used a 9-0 run to take a 15-4 advantage. The Cougars were not able to get much going as the Buffs kept the pressure on and CU easily finished the set 25-12. The Buffs hit .333 in the frame with 13 kills and just two errors on 33 attacks, while holding CSU to a .000 hitting efficiency with seven kills and seven errors on 32 swings.

SET 2: Colorado started off strong again in the start of the second set, holding a 14-7 lead. CSU got a point off a CU attack error but after that, the Buffs recorded a 7-0 run to go up 21-8. Again CU was able to finish the set easily, this time with a 25-10 score. The Buffs hit even better in this set at .467 with 17 kills, while CSU hit .033 with just six kills.

SET 3: Like the first two, the third set was all Buffs. CU led 11-9 when it put together a 7-0 run to take an 18-9 lead. The Buffs did not let down, finishing the set 25-11. Colorado hit a match best .609 with 14 kills and no errors on 23 attacks, while CSU was again held to .000 with seven kills and seven errors on 27 attacks.

A GOOD LOW: For the second straight match CU hit just five errors, tying the lowest total in a match for the Buffs since 2001, the start of the rally scoring era. The Buffs also hit five errors last Saturday, Sept. 10, against UC Irvine. Both matches were three set wins.

NOTEABLE: The Buffs improved to 6-2 on the season…CU is a perfect 3-0 at home under head coach Jesse Mahoney…Chicago State is 2-10 after falling to the Buffs…The Cougars defeated New Orleans earlier in the day in the first match of the Omni Invitational.

NEXT UP: The Buffs host New Orleans at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 17, to start the second day of action at the Omni Invitational at the Coors Events Center. CU will play Colorado State in the final match at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

QUOTABLE:
Jesse Mahoney, head coach
ON TONIGHT'S CHALLENGES - "No matter who we're playing, we want to challenge ourselves. The challenge was to play as good as we could for as long as we could and minimize our errors, play clean volleyball regardless of the opponent. We did a really good job of that. We had five hitting errors in three sets and hit almost .500. Defensively we did a really nice job so it was good that we accomplished that even though we weren't stressed by the other team. We kept our focus."

ON THE TEAM'S STRONG PASSING GAME - "I think we are passing extremely well. I haven't looked at the numbers yet tonight but I'm guessing we're in in system 80% of the time. We have talented setters who are moving the ball around really well. I preach at them all the time about not making errors, they get in trouble if they make errors. They've been doing a nice job of minimizing errors. We want to be as efficient as we can offensively and defensively. Offensively especially I think we're doing a really good job of that. We're going to have to continue to get better because better competition is coming."

ON GIVING NEWCOMERS PLAYING TIME TONIGHT AND THE QUICK TURNAROUND OF MATCHES THIS TOURNAMENT - "We wanted to get players like Justine who's been playing really well in practice and is deserving of some court time, an opportunity to get their feet wet and get the jitters out. That way, the next time when they play when it's a tighter situation and we need them to come in and perform well, they can do it and be comfortable doing it. Secondly, we're trying to keep fresh. Three games in 24 hours is a lot of jumping and swinging and pounding on their bodies. We tried to minimize that today and will see if we can do that tomorrow morning as well so that we can be as fresh as possible tomorrow night against Colorado State."

Justine Spann, freshman outside hitter
ON HER PERFORMANCE
"I was a little nervous at first coming in, like, big stage type. But, I've always played on a high level team, so it was pretty cool to get out there and play again."

Joslyn Hayes, junior outside hitter
ON YOUNGER TEAMMATES
"It's always so exciting when the babies get to come on the court and you get to play with them and see what they got. There was some pre-game jitters, but just being able to be a fun energy and have fun with them on the court, I think that's the best part, seeing them contribute in their own way. It's really exciting to be able to play with them."

ON VETERAN PLAYERS
"[We were] just talking about a lot of things that we go over in practice and in gym. So, all the basic being disciplined in every aspect that we can possibly be. Obviously, trying to play as best as possible, but focus on little things to contribute to a bigger factor. I think we did a really good job of that. There were some communication errors but that always happens when you're playing a team that are a little bit outmatched. But I think overall we stayed disciplined and when we had troubles we communicated about it and we did a really good job preparing for tomorrow's matches."

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COLORADO TICKET INFORMATION
Single match tickets for most contests start at just $5 for general admission and $8 for reserved seating. Tickets for the second day of the Omni Invitational (Sept. 17), will start at $8 for general admission and $12 for reserved seats. Kids 12 and under are still free.

Season tickets are also available and start at just $25 for general admission, while reserved seats are $40. Fans can purchase single match and season tickets online at CUBuffs.com or by calling 303-49-BUFFS.

And don't forget about the Women's Sports Pass. For just $125, the Women's sports pass gives you general admission seating for all volleyball, soccer and women's basketball home games.

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Team Stats

Alexa Smith

Gabby Simpson

Justine Spann

Joslyn Hayes

Players Mentioned

Naghede Abu

Joslyn Hayes

Kiara McKibben

Gabby Simpson

Alexa Smith

Justine Spann

Players Mentioned

Naghede Abu

Joslyn Hayes

Kiara McKibben

Gabby Simpson

Alexa Smith

Justine Spann