Alexi Austin had nine kills in the loss

Alexi Austin had nine kills in the loss

 

BERKELEY, Calif. — The University of Colorado volleyball team lost a tough match to California 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-21) on Wednesday night at Haas Pavilion.

 

With the loss, the Buffs are now 11-4 overall (3-2 Pac-12), and the Bears improved to 10-4 overall (3-2 Pac-12). Both teams are receiving votes in the AVCA Division I Coaches Poll.

 

Alexis Austin led CU with nine kills, while Kerra Schroeder and Taylor Simpson each recorded eight kills. Kelsey English and Nikki Lindow both notched five kills in the match.

 

English added a match-high four service aces, three of those coming in the first set. She posted a team-high three block assists and totaled 10.5 points to lead the Buffs.

 

CU hit .144 in the match with 36 kills and 21 errors on 104 attacks. Cal had 42 kills and 15 errors on 97 swings to hit .278.

 

Schroeder had a team-best 11 digs in the effort and Cierra Simpson had five digs. CU as a team recorded 36 digs in the match and also put up 6.0 blocks.

 

Adrienne Gehan had a match-high 15 kills for Cal and hit .361 with just two errors on 36 attacks. Lara Vukasovic was second for the Bears with eight kills and Maddy Kerr recorded 12 digs.

 

CU got out to a quick start in the match, taking a 5-0 lead. Cal came back to even the score at 9-9 and went on to take its first lead of the set at 11-10. The Bears increased their lead to 18-14, forcing the Buffs to use a timeout. CU started to rally, and got within three points at 22-19 when Cal took its first timeout of the set. The Buffs took the next point with a kill from English, but then the Bears answered with two more points (24-20). CU fought off the first set point with a kill from Austin, but Cal finished the set with a kill from Gehan (25-21).

 

Cal took a 7-3 advantage to start set two. The Buffs got back within a point at 10-9, but the Bears pulled away to a 14-11 lead before increasing it to 19-13, which made CU take a timeout. The Buffs tried to get back into the set, but weren’t able to pull off the comeback and fell 25-17.

 

The Bears started set three with a 13-8 lead before the Buffs used a timeout. After the break, CU put together a 6-2 run to get within a point of the Bears (15-14), but the Bears answered back with three straight points to go ahead by four (18-14). The Buffs didn’t give up and kept fighting; getting back to within a pair of points at 21-19. The teams traded off points for the next five points but then the Bears finished the set with two straight (25-21).

 

The Buffs will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 12 when they take on No. 8 Stanford at 8 p.m. MT. The match will be streamed live on the Pac-12 Digital Network.

 

 

 

 

COLORADO BUFFALOES

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