Buffs split weekend volleyball series against Washington schools

BOULDER–Colorado women’s volleyball kept pace in the Pac-12 conference after winning against the Washington State Cougars and losing to the Washington Huskies this past weekend. The team’s overall record is now 13-5, and they rank fourth in the Pac-12 with a 5-3 league record.

The Buffs threw the first punch in Friday night’s match against Washington State, winning the first two sets 25-21 and 25-17. After losing the third set 25-15, the team was able to regroup, winning the fourth set 25-9 and claiming a three sets to one victory.

The match also marked Coach Jesse Mahoney’s 300th collegiate win as the Buffaloes’ head coach. The Buffs leaned on outstanding performances by junior Maya Tabron, who finished with 18 kills, and graduate student Meegan Hart who tallied six blocks. This victory also marked the end of a seven-match losing streak for the Buffs against Washington State.

“Going back to some of the early days with a lot of players, I’ve been lucky to have had to really be part of a great program and hold great players and great assistant coaches,” said Mahoney humbly after the game. “300 wins, that mostly means I’m old.”

With strong contributions from Lexi Hadrych with 11 kills and Sterling Parker and Alexia Kuehl with four kills and four blocks each, the Buffs were unstoppable. The team had a total of five service aces and 51 digs on the defensive end which caught the Cougars off guard from the start.

“You could feel the energy coming off the court,” Taylor Simpson said during the post-game press conference. “The sideline was getting pumped. Adam, our strength coach, was cheering. Everybody was so excited.”

After Friday night’s match, the team stood at 5-2, tied with the University of Washington for third in the Pac-12 conference heading into their matchup Sunday afternoon.

The Buffs had a slow start to Sunday’s match, losing the first two sets 25-19 and 25-17. Maya Tabron, Meegan Hart, and Lexi Hadrych contributed 40 kills combined. With 25 assists from Taylor Simpson and a total of 18 blocks, the team competed for every point. The Huskies were able to make some tough plays as the Buffs struggled to get their momentum. It wasn’t until the third set that the team was able to compose themselves, winning 25-22 to force a fourth set.

The Huskies were able to pull through in the end, winning the fourth set 25-22. The win moved the Huskies’ conference record to 6-2 and allowed them to leapfrog the Buffs for the third spot in the league standings.

“It doesn’t feel good right now but we are playing. On Friday’s match, I think that’s some of the best volleyball we played all season and it’s nice going into a team like Oregon and even Oregon State. We know that we can do it just by finding that consistency component this week with practice,” said Brynna Deluzio.

Despite the defeat, the team is still optimistic about their upcoming match as they hit the road against Oregon State on Friday at 8 p.m and the University of Oregon on Sunday at 1 p.m. So far the team has had a strong start to their season as they continue to build a deep bench and continue their winning momentum.

“It’s just finding that consistency and knowing that we can compete against these top teams. They’re ranked 15th and we took them to four sets, almost five.” Maya Tabron said postgame. “I think that we shouldn’t be too down on ourselves like that because we have another chance to get them at the end of the season. If we just keep improving then we can do that.”