Posts tagged Cierra Simpson
CU v-ballers lose to Cal-Berkeley
Oct 11th
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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Simpson notches career-high kills to whip Washington State for a 3-1 Pac-12 record
Oct 7th
BOULDER — Junior outside hitter Taylor Simpson recorded a career-high 23 kills as the University of Colorado volleyball team defeated Washington State 3-1 to win its third straight Pac-12 Conference match this season.
The Buffs won 25-17, 25-21, 25-27, 25-19 to improve to 11-3 overall, 3-1 in the Pac-12. WSU is now 14-3, 1-3 in the Pac-12. This is the first time since 2006 that the Buffs have won three conference matches in a row.
“It was definitely a hard-fought match,” Simpson said. “They definitely put their hands on any hit that I had, but we had some good sets and were doing really well passing-wise. I thought it was a good match.”
Simpson hit .333 in the match with seven errors on 48 attacks. She also added seven digs and four blocks assists. Nikki Lindow had an error-free hitting night with 10 kills on 19 swings for a match-high .526 hitting percentage.
Simpson hit .333 in the match with seven errors on 48 attacks. She also added seven digs and four blocks assists. Nikki Lindow had an error-free hitting night with 10 kills on 19 swings for a match-high .526 hitting percentage. At the net she led the Buffs with five block assists.
CU hit .278 in the win with 61 kills. Nicole Edelman had 45 assists and added six kills on 13 errorless attacks to hit .462. She also had a double-double with 10 digs. Alexis Austin and Kerra Schroeder each recorded seven kills for CU and Kelsey English tacked on another six in the victory. Cierra Simpson led CU in the back row with 14 of CU’s 49 digs.
Colorado out-blocked the Cougars 8.0-4.0. Besides blocks from Lindow and Taylor Simpson, English and Schroeder each put up three block assists and Austin added the final one for CU.
“I am very proud of them (the team),” coach Liz Kritza said. “We talked in the locker room before the match about this being more important than the match that we played on Friday. This is the follow-up match, and it’s the one that lets us show that it’s not just a team that can pull an upset and then dip down. It’s part of establishing our identity within this league and across the country nationally in volleyball.”
The Buffs held WSU to a .200 hitting efficiency with 54 kills and 26 errors on 140 attacks. The Cougars were led by Kyra Holt’s 19 kills and Jaicee Harris added 10 kills.
“It’s a victory and we took it,” Kritza said “It wasn’t pretty all the time. I can look at every single player on the roster, and they’re celebrating the fact that it was a victory, but they also know that there’s another side to this. We want continual improvement. We have to get back in the gym; we’re going back on the road for two weeks. We have four tough road matches, and the expectations are getting higher and higher within our group. That’s a very good thing. I always love that they know that I hate losing and love winning, but I want to put ourselves in a position to sustain these victories. This can be a really special season for us.”
The Buffs took a 13-7 lead in the first set before WSU called its first timeout. After the break, the Cougars got within two points (14-12) to force the Buffs to call a timeout of their own. The quick intermission worked well for CU as the team recorded an 8-3 run to go back up 22-15. From there the Buffs were able to finish the set with three of the next five points. Taylor Simpson had a hot hand in the frame, hitting .818 with nine kills and no errors on 11 swings. The Buffs hit .517 as a team with 17 kills and only two errors on 29 swings.
WSU led for the first part of the second set, taking an 11-6 lead. The Buffs started to put a stop to the Cougar’s attack and got back within a point at 13-12. CU continued its comeback and evened the score at 15-15. The Buffs went ahead of WSU with a 4-2 run (19-18) and from that point on the Buffs would never trail as they finished 25-21.
CU forced the Cougars to use a timeout after taking a 9-4 advantage to start the third set. Out of the break, WSU recorded a 5-3 run (12-9) and this time the Buffs decided to spend a timeout. CU retained the lead and went up 19-15, but the Cougars got back within a point at 21-20, so the Buffs used their final timeout of the set. The two teams would battle it out to the end and needed extra points, and in the end it was WSU with the 27-25 win.
The fourth set was a close fought one. The Buffs had a 14-10 lead before WSU took three straight points to get within a point at 14-13. After a quick CU timeout, the Buffs used a 6-3 run to take a 20-16 advantage. The Cougars tried to slow CU down with another timeout, but the Buffs were determined to finish the match and won the set 25-19.
The Buffs will head to northern California next week for a pair of matches. CU will face California on Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 8:30 p.m. MT. The Buffs will take on No. 7 Stanford on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 8 p.m. MT. Both matches will be televised regionally on the Pac-12 Network.
COLORADO BUFFALOES
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CU women’s volleyball has a HUGE win over No. 1 Huskies
Oct 5th
BOULDER — The University of Colorado volleyball team shocked the top-ranked Washington Huskies on Friday night by handing them their first loss of the 2013 season, winning 3-1 (25-17, 26-24, 15-25, 25-19) at the Coors Events Center.
“I don’t think it has hit me yet,” senior Kerra Schroeder said. “At the same time, I think that we finally played to our potential, and I don’t think that anyone in the Pac-12 is ready for it. I’m not even shocked that we played so well. It’s awesome that we finally did.”
Simpson had 18 kill shots
This was the Buffs second win over a ranked opponent in eight days as they defeated No. 11 UCLA in five sets on Sept. 27, also at the Coors Events Center. The last time CU defeated two ranked teams in such a short span was in 2005 when the Buffs beat Kansas State (3-2) on Oct. 12 and Texas A&M (3-2) on Oct. 16. KSU was ranked 20th and TAMU was 24th.
“I told the team in the huddle that I’m not surprised at the results,” coach Liz Kritza said. “We focused on playing well. Even though we have had some really good matches in this season already, this team and this group of coaches is different. We’re just not going to be satisfied until we can maximize everything that we have. Tonight was the best I have seen this team play this season, and I still think that there’s more for us to do. We’re definitely going to enjoy it and celebrate it; wins like this are very significant. Years of work go into something like this is. I couldn’t be more proud of these players and coaches and this complete team effort.”
This was just the second time in program history that CU has knocked off a No. 1 ranked team; the last time was Nov. 11, 2006 when the Buffs took down Nebraska in five sets. Coincidentally that was the Husker’s only loss of the season as NU went onto win the NCAA Championship.
“Everybody wants to beat the number one team on their home court; it has to be a little bit more than that,” Kritza said. “It has to be a true group that actually believes it and is willing to make sacrifices and willing to work. Especially for us, we are coming off of a tough match on Tuesday. It’s up and down, and it’s even more significant coming off of that tough slip.”
Austen had 11 kills.
CU improved to 10-3 on the season, 2-1 in the Pac-12 with the win; while UW is now 10-1 overall and 1-2 in the Pac-12.
Junior Taylor Simpson recorded a match-high 18 kills in the win and hit .302 with only five errors on 43 attacks. She also led the team with 20 digs for her sixth double-double of the year.
“This was the most exciting game I’ve ever played throughout my entire career so far,” Simpson said. “I can only imagine what’s next. We just beat the number one team, and I’m beyond excited.”
The Buffs recorded 56 kills in the four sets, 10 more than Washington (46) and out-hit the Huskies .282-.135. Nicole Edelman handed out 46 of CU’s 53 assists and added 12 digs, two kills and a pair of blocks.
Sophomore Alexis Austin added 11 kills for the Buffs and Schroeder hammered nine. Kelsey English and Nikki Lindow each added eight kills in the victory.
CU also did well in the back row, picking up almost everything that came its way. The Buffs had 68 digs, compared to UW’s 55. Cierra Simpson added 12 digs for the Buffs and Schroeder had 10 digs on top of Taylor Simpson’s 20 and Edelman’s 12 digs. The Buffs block also looked good with Lindow and Schroeder posted four block assists. They recorded 9.0 team blocks compared to UW’s 6.0 blocks.
“I am so proud of everyone on my team,” Schroeder said. “I feel like we had a lot of long rallies, and no one gave up. That shows a lot of heart.”
The Huskies were led by Krista Vansant’s 14 kills. Lianna Sybeldon was also in double-digits with 12 kills while hitting .440. She also recorded four block assists. Jenna Orlandini had a team-best 15 digs in the match.
The Buffs took a 10-5 lead to start the match, forcing UW to call its first timeout. Out of the break, the Huskies took three of the next four points but the Buffs regrouped and kept rolling, going up 19-13. Once again the Huskies needed a break, but they couldn’t slow down CU and the Buffs closed the set 25-17. CU hit .378 and held the Huskies to .088.
The second set was much closer and the Buffs had the lead through the first part. CU was up 15-14 at the media timeout when the Huskies took two straight points for their first lead of the night (16-15). The score would be tied nine more times in the set and it would also go extra points. CU had set point (24-23), but UW tied it back up with a kill. The Buffs decided it was time to end the set after that with a pair of kills from Austin (26-24).
UW took a 9-4 lead in the third set, causing the Buffs to use their first timeout early. CU tried to chip away at the Huskies lead, but weren’t able to keep pace with UW. The Huskies extended their lead to 19-3 and finished the set 25-15.
The fourth set was another close one before the Buffs were able to go up 15-11 and extended it to 19-14. The Huskies got back within two points at 19-17, but CU answered with three points to retake a five-point advantage (22-17). The Buffs remained poised and held on to win one of the biggest matches in CU history 25-19. They hit .229 in the in the set, but more importantly held UW to .033.
The Buffs will be back in action on Sunday at 12 p.m. against the Washington State Cougars at the Coors Events Center.
COLORADO BUFFALOES
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