Despite a late rally, the University of Colorado volleyball team saw their season come to a close on Saturday with a loss in five sets to No. 9 Colorado State University in the Moby Arena in Fort Collins.
Colorado lost the first two sets to CSU before rallying back to win the next two and force a fifth set. The Buffaloes kept it close in the final set, even taking a 13-11 lead and having match point at 14-13 before Colorado State capped a 5-1 run to win the match 16-14 and move on to the Sweet Sixteen.
Even in the first two sets that Colorado lost, the Buffaloes managed to keep it close, tallying 22 and 21 points in the first and second sets respectively. In a must-win fourth set, Colorado managed to break a 24-24 tie and win on back-to-back kills from junior outside hitter Alexis Austin and senior outside hitter Taylor Simpson. Simpson led all players with 32 kills, her career high, in her last match for Colorado.
Colorado managed to out-kill Colorado State in the match 74-67.
Senior middle blocker Rachel Hargis managed career highs in her final match for the Buffs as well, notching six kills and five blocks, surpassing her previous career highs of two and three.
The Buffaloes finished their season with a 20-14 record, while Colorado State moves to 31-2. This marks the fourth time Colorado has faced Colorado State and lost in the NCAA Division I Tournament. Colorado also moves to 7-16 all time playing in the Moby Arena.
Colorado’s 20 wins is the first time the program has managed 20 or more wins since 2003, when they went 21-10.
Contact CU Independent Assistant Sports Editor Sam Routhier at samuel.routhier@colorado.edu and follow him on twitter @samrouthier.
