Colorado University Athletics
Friday, September 15
Boulder, CO
7:00 PM
Colorado
8-1
3
vs
1
Xavier
4-7
1
2
3
4
F
Xavier
23
25
23
18
1
Colorado
25
21
25
25
3
Photo by: Curtis Snyder
Buffs Best Musketeers, 3-1
September 15, 2017 | Volleyball
BOULDER — Colorado's outside hitters shined on Friday night as the Buffaloes recorded a hard-fought victory against Xavier here at Coors Events Center, 25-23, 21-25, 25-23, 25-18.
Junior Frankie Shebby hammered a team-best 19 kills along with 10 digs, while junior Alexa Smith tallied 16 kills and 15 digs to help the Buffs improve to 8-1 on the season. Xavier dropped to 4-7 overall.
WHAT HAPPENED: While the Buffs' outside hitters were on fire, several others got into the action. Senior Joslyn Hayes was also in double-digits with 11 kills senior Anna Pfefferle had eight kills with just two errors on 17 attacks to hit a match-best .353. Freshman setter Brynna DeLuzio handed out a career-high 55 assists while directing the offense and added 15 digs and two aces.
Junior Gabby Carta-Samuels led CU in the back-row, picking up 16 digs, a team-best, and also dished out three assists. Junior Naghede Abu was the team's top blocker, posting two block solos and two block assists in addition to her seven kills.
Kristen Massa led the Musketeers with 20 kills and also added eight digs and four blocks. Second on the team was Laure Grossman, who recorded 12 kills.
SET 1: The Buffs jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the match before Xavier used its first timeout. Colorado continued to hold a lead for the rest of the set despite allowing the Musketeers to get within a point a few times in the game, including at 24-23. CU went on to take the set with a kill from Shebby.
SET 2: Colorado again took a nice early lead, this time going up 11-4 before XU needed a timeout. The Buffs took the first point out of the break, but the Musketeers rallied with four straight points to cut the Buffs' lead (12-8). CU stayed in front, but XU again cut into the lead, this time bringing the score within two (17-15). The Buffs answered back with three straight points to force the Musketeers to call its final timeout (20-15). XU came out of the break fighting and went ahead of the Buffs with a 6-0 run, during which the Buffs took both of their timeouts. CU sided-out on the next point with a kill from Pfefferle, but was unable to keep the momentum on its side and fell 25-21.
SET 3: The set started out very close before with the two sides battling back and forth before XU took a 17-14 advantage, forcing the Buffs to take a timeout. The following point was a long rally, which ended in CU's favor with a block by Pfefferle and redshirt freshman Lauren Dorrell. The Buffs fought back, evening the score at 18-18. The frame was tied again at 22-22 when XU recorded a point for a one-point advantage. The Buffs used a timeout to regroup, which worked as they took the next three points (two kills from Hayes and one from Smith) to close out the set 25-23.
SET 4: The fourth set also started out fairly even, so when CU claimed a 15-13 lead midway through the set, Xavier was forced to take a timeout. The Musketeers took the first four points out of the break before the Buffs sided-out with a kill from Smith. The Buffs kept the pressure on and tied up the set at 17-17 with a block from Smith and Pfefferle. Two more CU points forced XU to take its final timeout (19-17), but it did not stop the Buffs as they were firing on all cylinders, closing out the game on a 10-1 run (25-18).
NOTEABLE: This was the first meeting between the two teams…The Buffs are 8-1 for the first time since 2014…The best start in program history was 13-1 in 1998…The Buffs are now 4-0 at home this season.
TEAM STATISTICS: CU out-hit the Musketeers .233-.212. The Buffs tallied 64 kills to XU's 54. Both teams recorded 74 digs, but XU had the edge in blocks (12.0-8.0). CU served up a match-best six aces, compared to four for the Musketeers.
NEXT UP: Colorado heads north for a pair of matches in Fort Collins, Colo. on Saturday in Moby Arena. The Buffs will face Albany at 11 a.m. and at 7 p.m., CU will take on No. 22 Colorado State.
QUOTES:
Head coach Jesse Mahoney
On defensive miscommunications and Xavier's offense
"They play a certain style of volleyball that's designed to create chaos defensively. I'm not sure I prepared our team well enough for it. We should have had two practices on it; we only had one. It took us a little while to catch up to the speed of what they do and their misdirections. I thought we had a handle on it by set two when we were up 19-12 but I was mistaken."
On Coach Mahoney's message to the team after set two
"By set two when we were up 19-12, we took our feet off the gas and thought we were going to win. I made some subbing choices and we had some bad luck. Then they made some really good plays. That's a very good team, certainly system wise and defensively. I thought they were excellent. In between sets two and three we talked about energy more than anything else and playing with fire. You could hear Xavier down the hall and we were just slowly walking to the locker room. I'm not sure that we accomplished that specifically, but I thought our play picked up in sets three and four."
On freshman Brynna DeLuzio's performance with 55 assists
"I thought she did a fantastic job. She takes information really well and executes game plans. She's steady-Eddy. She goes and gets the job done. Brynna had a couple of really nice blocks at the end of set four. She had a couple of really nice defensive plays as well. She kind of does it all for us."
On the turning point in the game to take control
"It doesn't show up on the stat line, Frankie, Joslyn, and Alexa all had big nights on attack. Stephanie Shadley came in and won set three for us from the service line and made some big digs, she had a really nice kill. Justine Spann came in at around 17 all and got us three to four points from the service line. She also made some really good contacts. That doesn't show up here but those two kids broke open both of those sets. That allowed us to close those sets and win the match."
On Saturday's matchup with rival Colorado State
"Well, we have Albany first, that's the scouting report we're reading on the bus tomorrow morning. Colorado State is the game everyone is talking about and thinking about. I think they're under ranked. They've got wins over teams ahead of them in the Top-25. They win 90 percent of their matches in that gym. They're going to be really good and they're going to have a huge crowd. They have a ton of talent and they're very well coached. We're going to have to play well to be competitive and we're certainly going to have to play better than we did tonight to win the match tomorrow."
Junior outside hitter Frankie Shebby
On what the team needed to do, to adjust to what Xavier was doing
"I think we just needed to calm down, and read the plays. The balls came awkwardly off the block, so we just needed to calm down."
On Brynna DeLuzio, and her ability to spread the ball around
"She spreads the ball out really well. They don't know who is going to get set. It leaves a lot of stuff open."
On what she felt she needed to do to adjust her passing
"At Illinois I got in my head. I just had to get in my platform early. If I don't do that, there is a good chance I will shank the pass. It is such a simple thing, but it can be a very mental thing."
Junior outside hitter Alexa Smith
On what the Colorado State match means to her, being a Colorado native
"Every match is really important, but Colorado State is a big rival for us. Especially with being from in state, it will be fun playing in that gym with all of the fans. It should be a fun atmosphere."
Senior opposite hitter Joslyn Hayes
On what the team was lacking in the first couple of sets
"We were lacking communication. Xavier is a really competitive and fast paced team. Their offense is designed to create chaos and we didn't handle it appropriately."
On Brynna DeLuzio, and her ability to spread the ball around
"Having a setter that can spread out the offense is huge. Not everybody is always going to be on, so being able to spread the ball around allows us to share the load."
On going back to CSU after losing a close game in 2014
"I am on fire about it. I am pumped up. It has stayed close to my heart because it was such a painful loss. Especially for all of the girls that were on the court then, I want to get it done for them too."
Junior Frankie Shebby hammered a team-best 19 kills along with 10 digs, while junior Alexa Smith tallied 16 kills and 15 digs to help the Buffs improve to 8-1 on the season. Xavier dropped to 4-7 overall.
WHAT HAPPENED: While the Buffs' outside hitters were on fire, several others got into the action. Senior Joslyn Hayes was also in double-digits with 11 kills senior Anna Pfefferle had eight kills with just two errors on 17 attacks to hit a match-best .353. Freshman setter Brynna DeLuzio handed out a career-high 55 assists while directing the offense and added 15 digs and two aces.
Junior Gabby Carta-Samuels led CU in the back-row, picking up 16 digs, a team-best, and also dished out three assists. Junior Naghede Abu was the team's top blocker, posting two block solos and two block assists in addition to her seven kills.
Kristen Massa led the Musketeers with 20 kills and also added eight digs and four blocks. Second on the team was Laure Grossman, who recorded 12 kills.
SET 1: The Buffs jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the match before Xavier used its first timeout. Colorado continued to hold a lead for the rest of the set despite allowing the Musketeers to get within a point a few times in the game, including at 24-23. CU went on to take the set with a kill from Shebby.
SET 2: Colorado again took a nice early lead, this time going up 11-4 before XU needed a timeout. The Buffs took the first point out of the break, but the Musketeers rallied with four straight points to cut the Buffs' lead (12-8). CU stayed in front, but XU again cut into the lead, this time bringing the score within two (17-15). The Buffs answered back with three straight points to force the Musketeers to call its final timeout (20-15). XU came out of the break fighting and went ahead of the Buffs with a 6-0 run, during which the Buffs took both of their timeouts. CU sided-out on the next point with a kill from Pfefferle, but was unable to keep the momentum on its side and fell 25-21.
SET 3: The set started out very close before with the two sides battling back and forth before XU took a 17-14 advantage, forcing the Buffs to take a timeout. The following point was a long rally, which ended in CU's favor with a block by Pfefferle and redshirt freshman Lauren Dorrell. The Buffs fought back, evening the score at 18-18. The frame was tied again at 22-22 when XU recorded a point for a one-point advantage. The Buffs used a timeout to regroup, which worked as they took the next three points (two kills from Hayes and one from Smith) to close out the set 25-23.
SET 4: The fourth set also started out fairly even, so when CU claimed a 15-13 lead midway through the set, Xavier was forced to take a timeout. The Musketeers took the first four points out of the break before the Buffs sided-out with a kill from Smith. The Buffs kept the pressure on and tied up the set at 17-17 with a block from Smith and Pfefferle. Two more CU points forced XU to take its final timeout (19-17), but it did not stop the Buffs as they were firing on all cylinders, closing out the game on a 10-1 run (25-18).
NOTEABLE: This was the first meeting between the two teams…The Buffs are 8-1 for the first time since 2014…The best start in program history was 13-1 in 1998…The Buffs are now 4-0 at home this season.
TEAM STATISTICS: CU out-hit the Musketeers .233-.212. The Buffs tallied 64 kills to XU's 54. Both teams recorded 74 digs, but XU had the edge in blocks (12.0-8.0). CU served up a match-best six aces, compared to four for the Musketeers.
NEXT UP: Colorado heads north for a pair of matches in Fort Collins, Colo. on Saturday in Moby Arena. The Buffs will face Albany at 11 a.m. and at 7 p.m., CU will take on No. 22 Colorado State.
QUOTES:
Head coach Jesse Mahoney
On defensive miscommunications and Xavier's offense
"They play a certain style of volleyball that's designed to create chaos defensively. I'm not sure I prepared our team well enough for it. We should have had two practices on it; we only had one. It took us a little while to catch up to the speed of what they do and their misdirections. I thought we had a handle on it by set two when we were up 19-12 but I was mistaken."
On Coach Mahoney's message to the team after set two
"By set two when we were up 19-12, we took our feet off the gas and thought we were going to win. I made some subbing choices and we had some bad luck. Then they made some really good plays. That's a very good team, certainly system wise and defensively. I thought they were excellent. In between sets two and three we talked about energy more than anything else and playing with fire. You could hear Xavier down the hall and we were just slowly walking to the locker room. I'm not sure that we accomplished that specifically, but I thought our play picked up in sets three and four."
On freshman Brynna DeLuzio's performance with 55 assists
"I thought she did a fantastic job. She takes information really well and executes game plans. She's steady-Eddy. She goes and gets the job done. Brynna had a couple of really nice blocks at the end of set four. She had a couple of really nice defensive plays as well. She kind of does it all for us."
On the turning point in the game to take control
"It doesn't show up on the stat line, Frankie, Joslyn, and Alexa all had big nights on attack. Stephanie Shadley came in and won set three for us from the service line and made some big digs, she had a really nice kill. Justine Spann came in at around 17 all and got us three to four points from the service line. She also made some really good contacts. That doesn't show up here but those two kids broke open both of those sets. That allowed us to close those sets and win the match."
On Saturday's matchup with rival Colorado State
"Well, we have Albany first, that's the scouting report we're reading on the bus tomorrow morning. Colorado State is the game everyone is talking about and thinking about. I think they're under ranked. They've got wins over teams ahead of them in the Top-25. They win 90 percent of their matches in that gym. They're going to be really good and they're going to have a huge crowd. They have a ton of talent and they're very well coached. We're going to have to play well to be competitive and we're certainly going to have to play better than we did tonight to win the match tomorrow."
Junior outside hitter Frankie Shebby
On what the team needed to do, to adjust to what Xavier was doing
"I think we just needed to calm down, and read the plays. The balls came awkwardly off the block, so we just needed to calm down."
On Brynna DeLuzio, and her ability to spread the ball around
"She spreads the ball out really well. They don't know who is going to get set. It leaves a lot of stuff open."
On what she felt she needed to do to adjust her passing
"At Illinois I got in my head. I just had to get in my platform early. If I don't do that, there is a good chance I will shank the pass. It is such a simple thing, but it can be a very mental thing."
Junior outside hitter Alexa Smith
On what the Colorado State match means to her, being a Colorado native
"Every match is really important, but Colorado State is a big rival for us. Especially with being from in state, it will be fun playing in that gym with all of the fans. It should be a fun atmosphere."
Senior opposite hitter Joslyn Hayes
On what the team was lacking in the first couple of sets
"We were lacking communication. Xavier is a really competitive and fast paced team. Their offense is designed to create chaos and we didn't handle it appropriately."
On Brynna DeLuzio, and her ability to spread the ball around
"Having a setter that can spread out the offense is huge. Not everybody is always going to be on, so being able to spread the ball around allows us to share the load."
On going back to CSU after losing a close game in 2014
"I am on fire about it. I am pumped up. It has stayed close to my heart because it was such a painful loss. Especially for all of the girls that were on the court then, I want to get it done for them too."
Team Stats
XU
COLO
Kills
54
64
Errors
19
23
Attempts
165
176
Hitting %
.212
.233
Points
70.0
78.0
Assists
49
60
Aces
4
6
Blocks
12.0
8.0
Game Leaders
Kills
19
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
16
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ Volleyball
S/L
/ Volleyball
OPP
/ VolleyballOPP
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
OH
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
OH
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