Colorado shortly settled in on school volleyball’s greatest stage. And the Buffaloes made fast work of American College.
CU’s first match within the NCAA Match in three years was quick however candy on Thursday afternoon, because it swept American for a 25-16, 25-19, 25-16 victory in a first-round matchup at Indiana’s Wilkinson Corridor. The fifth-seeded Buffs advance to the second spherical for the primary time since 2017 and can play the fourth-seeded hosts, the Indiana Hoosiers, on Friday afternoon (4 p.m. MT, ESPN+).
Indiana swept Toledo within the second first-round match on Thursday.
“I believed we began off actually robust. We appeared actually snug all week in apply,” CU head coach Jesse Mahoney stated. “We served significantly nicely and adopted our sport plan early, and in all three units we had been in a position to go on lengthy scoring runs early to provide ourselves some cushion.”
CU (23-8) jumped to a 12-4 lead within the opening set and by no means trailed, recording solely two assault errors throughout the opening body whereas setting the tone with a .364 hitting proportion.
American briefly led at 5-3 early within the second set earlier than the Buffs broke free, reeling off a dominant 15-2 burst that turned the two-point deficit into an 18-7 lead. The Buffs scored the primary six factors of the third body earlier than cruising to their first victorious sweep in an NCAA Match match since a first-round win towards James Madison in 2017.
“I believed we scouted them rather well and had a very good sense of what they wished to do offensively,” Mahoney stated. “As soon as we began slowing them down from what they wished to do, they simply didn’t get snug doing issues they weren’t snug doing. That’s a testomony to (assistant) Lee (Maes) who runs our scouting, and our staff for executing, particularly early.”
Offensively, CU leaned closely all season on Ana Burilovic, who landed this system’s first first-team all-conference honor since 2022. However the Buffs have been at their finest when getting contributions throughout the rotation, and that held true towards American.
Sydney Jordan turned in a formidable all-around sport, posting a .500 hitting proportion with 15 kills, 5 digs and three blocks. Center blockers Maria Splawska (.667, eight kills, six blocks) and Cayla Payne (.385, six kills, three blocks) managed the middle of the ground, whereas setter Rian Finley dished out 33 assists. Lily Dwinell additionally recorded six kills and three blocks and defensive specialist Sarah Morton, a senior enjoying collegiately in her residence state for the primary time, posted 16 digs.
The Buffs posted a hitting proportion of .327 and completed with solely 11 assault errors, whereas American suffered 20.
“That is what we need to be,” Mahoney stated. “Ana performed nicely, however she was most likely our least environment friendly attacker. I believed Syd was actually good. After we can discover factors somewhere else once we don’t really feel like we’ve got to depend on one individual, we’re clearly a greater staff. And it provides these gamers some confidence, as a result of we’re going to want it (Friday).”
(5) CU Buffs volleyball 3, (12) American College 0
American 16 19 16
Colorado 25 25 25
LEADERS
Kills — American: Adeele Hollas 10, Dufour 7, Sciborski 7. Colorado: Jordan 15, Burilovic 9, Splawska 8, Dwinell 6, Payne 6.
Assists — American: Dakak 23. Colorado: Finley 33.
Aces — American: Ioannou 1, Sterling 1. Colorado: Burilovic 2, Jordan 2, Losada 2.
Blocks — American: Dakak 3, Sterling 2, Zeck 2. Colorado: Splawska 6, Dwinell 3, Jordan 3, Payne 3.
Digs — American: Marrero 13, Dufour 8. Colorado: Morton 16, Finley 7, Burilovic 5, Jordan 5, Neal 5.