A Halloween eve volleyball game had the Buffaloes looking like Dr. Jekyll and Hyde.
Colorado fell to No. 10 Texas in straight sets 25-22, 25-19, 25-5. The Buffs’ record falls to 7-12 overall (3-10 Big 12) and Texas improves to 16-5 (11-2 Big 12).
Colorado managed to stay consistent for most of the first two sets, but the third set was truly another story, said CU head coach Lisa Kritza.
“We go from playing a really high level, pretty complete and aggressive game in a couple sets, and then really getting stuck in that third set and not really ever being able to get our offensive going again,” Kritza said.
The first set was back and forth during the opening points. A kill by CU freshman middle blocker Nikki Lindow tied it at seven apiece and two more consecutive kills by Lindow gave CU the lead at 10-9.
The Buffs fell behind at 19-14, but kills by CU sophomore outside hitter Kerra Schroeder and junior outside hitter Richi Bigelow brought them within two, causing UT to call a timeout at 20-18. The remainder of the game was tight, with the teams tying nine times and the lead changing four times during the set. After the timeout, the Buffs got within one point four times – including at 23-22 – and tied once, but the Longhorns took the set at 25-22.
The Buffs fell behind 6-3 early in the second set, but kills by junior middle blocker Anicia Santos and junior outside hitter Rosie Steinhaus helped give the Buffs the lead at 10-8.
Texas gained control and took the majority of the next points to give them a 15-14 lead, and from then on, it was the Longhorns’ set to win. The Longhorns took the set at 25-19.
“Against a team like Texas, that has the scoring power that they do, it’s very difficult to climb back when you get four or five points behind,” Kritza said. “You pretty much have to be playing point for point and keeping up with them scoring wise to be able to push when we get to the end of the sets.”
The third set belonged to the Longhorns from the very beginning. Texas started the set out with a 6-1 run, causing the Buffs to take an early timeout. The Buffs got three more points on the board, but Texas had twelve of their own, and CU took another timeout at 14-4. The only other point CU would score in the set was a kill by Bigelow, and the Buffs were defeated 25-5. Texas hit .708 during the set, while the Buffs hit -.103 with seven errors and only four kills.
“In game three, we just didn’t bounce back,” said CU junior setter Alyssa Valentine. “I think we’re obviously going to take away the good from games one and two and just learn from game three and have that never happen again.”
Valentine finished the night with 25 assists – out of CU’s 26 total – but notices that the team needs to be better at bouncing back from its mistakes and focusing more on its game than the scoreboard.
“I guess you could say it happens to the best of teams,” Schroeder said. “I mean you have your slumps, and we just need to get past that.”
The Buffs face Missouri at the Coors Events Center at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 3.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Marlee Horn at marlee.horn@colorado.edu.
