Buffs fall to Jayhawks in a heated match
The CU volleyball team fell to the Kansas Jayhawks Saturday after great play in the first two games of the match.
Ever since breaking its 13-game losing streak against Texas Tech on Nov. 3, the team has been running on pure momentum, but that wasn’t enough to stop Kansas.
“It was disappointing, we couldn’t seem to switch the momentum our way,” said head coach Pi’i Aiu.
Outside hitter Emilee Sisco had a personal high of 30 kills for the match, but the Buffs couldn’t put Kansas away.
During the first game, the Buffalos held complete domination over the Jayhawks, outscoring Kansas 30-16 with no lead changes. Both sophomore outside hitters Emilee Sisco and Mallori Gibson scored an impressive eight points each, contributing to 80 percent of the total points earned by Colorado.
“It’s not how I hoped it would have gone,” Sisco said.
The second game was more heated, but the Buffs pulled through, 30-24. Sisco gained another 10 points and junior libero Callie Webster had an impressive 11 digs.
The Jayhawks proved to be a tough competitor. Freshman outside hitter Karina Garlington scored double digits with 10.5 points. Kansas also improved its team attack, hitting 23.8 percent from 13.8 in previous games.
“We just fail to get momentum going after winning two matches in a row. Once we lose that third it’s tough to win one of the next two” said Sisco.
The Jayhawks were clearly tired during the beginning of the third match as they failed to block various spikes and were unable to make many serves. That wouldn’t last for long, as they had a commanding lead throughout the 30-24 game.
Colorado’s offense crumbled, with its team attack falling from 48.6 percent from the second match to 8.6 percent.
“The third game was tentative” Aiu said. “There’s a lot to improve on.”
As the fourth game began, both the Jayhawks and the Buffaloes played tough, but Kansas came out on top with a 33-31 win. KU held its own throughout the fifth game, defeating the Buffs 15-11 and getting a 3-2 victory.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Justin Sedgwick at justin.sedgwick@thecampuspress.com
