No. 25 Buffs Battle Cougars, Fall 3-1

PULLMAN, Wash. — The No. 25 Colorado Buffaloes put up quite the battle, but could not pull out the victory, falling 3-1 (25-23, 25-19, 22-25, 30-28) to Washington State on Friday night at Bohler Gym.

The Buffs are now 12-4 overall, 2-3 in the Pac-12, while WSU improved to 13-4 (2-3 Pac-12).

WHAT HAPPENED: For the fourth time this season, junior Alexa Smith hammered 20 or more kills, this time recording 24, one shy of her career-high. She hit .304 on the night with seven errors on 56 attacks and tallied a double-double with 14 digs while adding a pair of blocks.

Frankie Shebby also had a good night for CU, recording 14 kills, eight digs and three blocks. Anna Pfefferle led the Buffs with an outstanding .583 hitting efficiency, tallying nine kills and two errors on 12 attacks. In addition, she added four blocks and four digs. Naghede Abu posted a team-best five block assists and added five kills.

The Buffs had three players, including Smith, in double-figures for digs. Justine Spann led the team with 18 and Gabby Carta-Samuels picked up 12 digs.

SET 1: The first set was tied 19 times before Washington State recorded at two-point lead (23-21) late in the frame. Colorado took its first timeout at that point and returned to the court with a kill from Shebby. WSU took the following point and despite a great effort, CU fell 25-23 in the game.

SET 2: The Cougars recorded a 5-2 start to the second set, but the Buffs took the next two points to get within a point. WSU sided-out out, but the two teams exchanged points before the Buffs strung together a 4-0 run with four kills to take a 10-8 advantage. WSU took a timeout, but after the break, committed an attack error, increasing CU's run to 5-0. The Cougars then responded with four straight points of their own to retake the lead. The Buffs took a timeout three points later after WSU had gone up 14-12. CU had to spend its final timeout four points later after the Cougars increased their lead to 17-13. WSU extended its lead to seven at 20-13 and despite an effort to rally, the Buffs fell 25-19.

SET 3: WSU again took the lead to start the third set, this time taking an 8-3 lead before the Buffs took a timeout. Colorado chipped away at the lead and got within a point (13-12). The Buffs then used a 3-2 run to even the set 15-15 and went up on the following point off an attack error by the Cougars. DeLuzio added a kill to bring the score to 17-15, causing WSU to take a timeout. The Buffs recorded the following two points to force the Cougars to spend another timeout. The Buffs increased their lead to five (21-16), but after a 4-1 run by WSU, CU needed to take a timeout (22-20). The Buffs regrouped and won the set 25-22.

SET 4: The set was very close and neither team had a lead larger than two points before WSU tallied three straight points to take a 13-10 advantage. The Buffs called a timeout, and used a 4-2 run out of the break to get within a point (15-14). After a WSU timeout, the Buffs came back to even the set at 16-16 and went up 20-18 before the Cougars recorded two consecutive points to draw the set even. WSU retook the lead on the next point following a timeout by the Buffs, but CU responded with a kill from Shebby (21-21). The two sides battled for the remainder of the set. The Buffs had three set points before WSU went up 27-26. CU fought off two straight points, but couldn't hold off the Cougars as they finished the set 30-28.

NOTES: Alexa Smith recorded her ninth double-double of the season…Justine Spann spent time at the libero position for the first time in her career and recorded a career-best 18 digs…Brynna DeLuzio handed out 53 assists, marking the sixth time this season she has record 50 or more in a match…CU is 3-3 all-time in Pullman, Wash.

TEAM STATISTICS: Both teams recorded 60 kills in the match. The Buffs had the slight edge in hitting percentage at .209 with 26 errors on 163 swings. WSU hit .205 with 27 errors on 161 attacks. Both teams also recorded 68 digs. The Cougars had a slight edge in blocks, posting 11.0 to CU's 9.0. WSU also led in aces (6-2).

NEXT UP: The Buffs head to Seattle to face No. 9 Washington on Sunday, Oct. 8, at 4 p.m. The match will be televised live on Pac-12 Mountain and Pac-12 Washington.

QUOTES:
Head coach Jesse Mahoney
"Road wins in the Pac-12 are tough to come by. Teams that win on the road generally have found a way to play low-error volleyball. We didn't do that tonight – we had too many serving errors and poor attacking decisions. I was happy with our fight in sets three and four after going down 0-2."

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Team Stats

Alexa Smith

Frankie Shebby

Anna Pfefferle

Naghede Abu

Players Mentioned

Naghede Abu

Gabby Carta-Samuels

Brynna DeLuzio

Anna Pfefferle

Frankie Shebby

Alexa Smith

Justine Spann

Players Mentioned

Naghede Abu

Gabby Carta-Samuels

Brynna DeLuzio

Anna Pfefferle

Frankie Shebby

Alexa Smith

Justine Spann