Reports from the 2024 Season

The Colorado Buffaloes faced the Kansas Jayhawks in a Big 12 conference volleyball showdown at the CU Events Center on October 3, 2024. The Jayhawks, who are ranked #8, secured a 3-1 victory against the Buffaloes after a dominating fourth set. 

The match began with Caroline Bien’s ace for the Jayhawks, jumping out to an early lead. Ana Burilović of the Colorado Buffaloes was quick to respond with a kill. After a long rally, the Buffs were able to secure another point after the ball was set back by the net to the floor of the Jayhawks. 

Lily Dwinell, with an unstoppable cut shot followed by a kill from Burilović, advanced Colorado to its first lead of the game, 11 to 10. The game's action took a brief pause when the head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks, Ray Bechard, used his first challenge of the game and was unsuccessful, leaving Colorado with a point. However, the Buffs could not keep up in the first set, and the Jayhawks secured the first set with a score of 25-22. 

Colorado's offense finally kicked in in the second set, pushing them to a strong lead. Once again, Dwinell and Burilović were heavy on attacks, but Cayla Payne also stepped in with a heavy block, sending the ball back. By maintaining their pace, the Buffs were able to confidently close out the second set with a win of 25-18 and tie up the game at a set each. 

The third set of the game had everyone on the edge of their seats. It was an intense back-and-forth battle between both teams. Colorado’s Taylor Simpson kept the momentum rolling for the Buffaloes throughout, with her sets from the middle putting her outside hitters in perfect positions for their kills. Bien continued to lead the way for the Jayhawks with her strong attacks, making Colorado unable to convert a set point. Kansas prevailed in a close back and forth set that ended with a score of 28-26.

As the Buffs offense went stagnant with only 8 kills in the fourth set, Colorado did not have it in them to fight Kansas’s defense. Ultimately the Jayhawks dominated, with a commanding 10-point lead. Kansas maintained this pace throughout the set, with Rhian Swanson stepping in to help with a kill. 

Kansas walked away with an impressive victory, registering 57 kills and 13 blocks, showing strength in both their defense and offense. 

Colorado Buffaloes women's volleyball team secured their first Big 12 conference win of the season in a thrilling five-set match against Texas Tech on October 5, 2024, at the CU Events Center. The Buffs secured their difficult win over The Red Raiders with a final score of 3-2. 

At the start of the match, all eyes were on Anna Burilović, who is an extremely dynamic player of the Colorado Buffaloes, and Mia Wesley of the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who leads her team in kills and aces per set. The Buffs were able to pull ahead with their first lead of the set with a tip shot from Lily Dwinell and a serve from Burilović, the best server on the team. The two teams carried a close score throughout this set. Texas Tech finally pulled ahead on a 4-0 run, being the first team to reach 20. The Buffs struggled with their serve reception and digs, ultimately leading to their defeat in the first set, which scored 25-21. 

Colorado found its rhythm in the second set of the match after catching up to the Red Raiders' significant lead. Sydney Jordan for the Buffs contributed with both her blocks and kills to close the gap between the teams. The Red Raiders were able to keep up their fight with the help of William's kills; however, they fell short to Colorado, with a final score of 25-19 in the second set.

Colorado's momentum carried through into the third set, which also ended in a win of 25-19, resulting in a 2-1 lead. 

Texas Tech did not let Colorado's lead interfere with their fight. They came back strong and determined in the fourth set. Colorado's head coach, Jesse Mahoney, quickly saw the start of errors within the team and promptly called a timeout with Texas leading 5-1. The Red Raiders' talented offense, including Wesley and Williams, pressured the Buff's defense, which could not find their footing. Texas Tech finished the set with a dominating score of 25-10. 

Colorado bounced back for a second time in this match for the final fifth set. Texas Tech's offense once again dominated, and they were able to keep up with the score. However, the Buffs were finally able to hone in on their blocking, which made it a difficult set for Texas. Lily Dwinell contributed heavily to Colorado's blocking, leading her team to a victory of 15-9. 

While Texas Tech dropped to 9-7 overall, Colorado moved to 8-8 on the season and 1-3 in Big 12 play.

On October 25, 2024, for just the second time in history, the Brigham Young University Cougars faced the Colorado Buffaloes in a match at the CU Events Center. The two teams had previously met this season in the Big 12 opener in Provo, Utah, where the Cougars took down the Buffaloes, winning 3-1. Once again, the Cougars emerged victorious in a hard-fought, four-set match against the Colorado Buffaloes, winning 3-1 on Friday.

Colorado faced a challenging task as the match began against BYU. The Cougars had a conference record of 5 and 3, whereas the Buffaloes had an opposite record of 3 and 5 in conference play. Brielle Kemavor, Kjersti Strong, and Elli Mortensen acted as BYU’s standout players in the first set, leading an early lead through dominant blocking and attacks. Ana Burilovic, Maria Splawska, and Cayla Payne managed to keep the Buffaloes in it with disruptive serves from Burilovic and strong blocks from Payne and Splawska. However, Colorado ultimately fell to BYU in this first match with a final score of 25-13. 

BYU opened the second set with their first attack error, giving Colorado the first point. Claire Little of BYU revived her team with a deep and angled shot, scoring a point. Head Coach Jesse Mahoney for the Buffaloes said he was concerned about this type of play and how Little is a threat at any time. Once again, with solid blocking from Burilovic and Splawska, the Buffaloes put up a fight and showed a strong defense. BYU was able to maintain their strength through a series of blocks and took another victory in this set with a final score of 25-19.

The Buffaloes once again took the first point in the third set with a kill from Burilovic. The team's offense finally took the spotlight with a 4-0 run. Little’s blocking alongside her players gave BYU a lead at one point, but Colorado came back stronger. 

Lily Dwinell shared insight on the adjustments made to stay competitive against BYU, explaining, “An adjustment that we made mid-game was switching up the lineup a little bit. We struggled to block BYU's hitters, so we changed our front row in hopes of putting up a bigger block.”

With a tight score of 20-20, both teams had to kick it into high gear. Ryan Finely secured an ace for Colorado, which led them to a set victory with a score of 25-22, extending the match to a fourth set. 

The fourth and final set kept the fans at the edge of their seats as the two teams traded leads. Simpson and Payne of the Buffaloes showed outstanding teamwork, adding to their team's score. Strong led BYU back to a tied score with an exciting kill for her team. The score remained tied until Mortensen scored a match point for the Cougars. Just when the audience thinks the match is about to be over, Colorado bumps the ball up into the scoreboard, where it gets stuck calling for a replay. BYU returns with another point, winning the set with a final score of 25-23.  

Colorado put up an intense fight, showing the strength of both their offense and defense, but fell short in fixing minor errors in their play.

“We had a very hard time stopping their middles when attacking, and on the flip side, we had a hard time hitting over the block put up by their middles,” said Dwinell. 

BYU’s blocking was their biggest asset during this match, which led them to take home another victory against Colorado. 

The Colorado Buffaloes hosted a big twelve matchup against the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday November 9th 2024 at the CU Events Center. The Buffaloes, who just came from a home loss against Utah, and Cincinnati coming off a win both entered the arena ambitious. Colorado walked away from the match victorious with a sweep of 3-0. 

All eyes were on Cayla Payne for the Buffaloes and Sydney Nolan for the Bearcats as they are both standout players. Cincinnati’s head coach, Molly Avery had just come from her 200th win on Thursday and was hungry for another one to add to her books.

The first set started with a strong block from Colorado scoring the first point of the set but was unfortunately followed by a missed hit from Lily Dwinell. Ana Burilović came back for Colorado and hammered down a point for her team. Abby Walker playing middle for the Bearcats has a strong block giving her team a point. Walker, who ranks 5th in the Big 12 for blocks per set, is a dynamic contributor for Cincinnati. Both teams showed strong defense in this set with digs from Colorado’s Burilovich and heavy blocks from Cincinnati. Although the Buffs had a rocky start Bella Simkus, playing middle, was able to get the Buffs back within 2 points of the Bearcats. After an attack error from Cincinnati, Colorado tied up the score for 6-6. With a strong serve from Sarah Morton the Buffaloes are the first to reach double digits in score giving them their first lead of 10-9. With Colorado now leading with a score of 13-10 head coach Avery calls for a challenge after the play was ruled an attack error. The challenge was successful, taking away a point from the Buffaloes. Payne and Taylor Simpson were showing great teamwork with their blocks in this first set keeping Colorado competitive. After a service error from Cincinnati, Colorado reached their 20th point with the Bearcats sitting 5 points behind at 15. Nolan, an outside hitter for Cincinnati, came in with a big swing keeping Cincinnati in it.  A block by Cincinnati put them just a point behind Colorado after being down. Strong hits from Lily Dwinell and Burilovich put the Buffaloes back at a 2 point lead with a score of 22-20. Colorado finished up the first set with a win after Sophie Jordan tapped the ball over the net and Cincinnati just couldn't get there. The first set ended with a final score of 25-20 and Colorado leading 1-0.

Cincinnati came back strong in the second set gaining the first lead. However, Colorado was quick to come back and pass them with a score of 5-4. The game was once again tied after CU spiked the ball too far into the back of the court giving Cincinnati a point. Both teams’ liberos showed strong and calculated effort. After a 3-0 run by the Buffaloes the Bearcats call a timeout.

Burilovich with her 8th kill scores another point for Colorado giving them double digit for a score of 10-5. While struggling to find the range of the court Cincinnati hits another missed shot. They eventually found their footing and followed with a hit to the corner, gaining a point for a score of 13-8 with Colorado still leading. Cincinnati stays strong with their blocking giving Burilovich her first error of the match. Carly Glendinning for the Bearcats hit a vital point for her team sitting only 3 points behind Colorado now. Coming in with an ace from Molly Harrison, she gets the Bearcats even closer to Colorado’s lead as she finds the corner of the court with her serve. 

Once again Colorado reaches 20 with Cincinnati sitting 5 points behind. With an overpass from Cincinnati, Cayla Payne fires a hit for Colorado. Paige Pickering for Cincinnati gets a kill for her team to stop a 4 point run for Colorado. Nolan scores another point for Colorado adding to their lead. Payne scores the final point for Colorado giving them a second set win of the match with a final score of 25-18.

Colorado scores the first point of the third set with a tap over the net from Burilovich. 

Buffaloes then overshoot the ball to the back court giving Cincinnati a point. The Bearcats break away with a 4 point run giving them their largest lead of this match. Payne and Jordan have a strong block and Payne keeps this momentum scoring another point for Colorado tightening up the score to 6-5 with Cincinnati leading. Cincinnati was first in reaching a double digit score in this set with Colorado sitting 5 points behind. Colorado was able to close the gap with their blocks which Sydney Jordan contributed to. Now sitting only one point away with a score of 17-16 with Cincinnati leading, both teams must lock in. After an overshot hit from the Bearcats the teams are tied up and Cincinnati calls a timeout. Colorado finally gains a lead of 2 being the first to reach 20 points. Jordan hit a deep shot that was blocked by Cincinnati giving them a point. Simkus and Jordan once again have a strong block together making Colorado only 2 points away from a sweep. Jordan hits a match point but the Bearcats do not give up and block for a point closing the score into 24-20. The Bearcats unfortunately hit a wide shot giving CU their final point to walk away from the third set with a score of 25-21.

Colorado in a sweep finished the match with hitting .305 while Cincinnati hit at .075 on the attack. Both teams played strong defense and had to get creative with the ball but Cincinnati could not keep up with the attacks from Burilovich.