Cyclones hit Buffs hard

Sophomore outside hitter Becah Fogle spikes the ball in a game against San Diego on Friday. (CU Independent file/ Ilana Finer)

Colorado Buffaloes head coach Liz Kritza saw firsthand how this season could turn out.

Kritza, who’s in her first year as CU head coach, saw her team lose in three sets, 25-18, 25-14, 25-13, to No. 10 Iowa State on Wednesday in Ames, Iowa in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams. CU fell to 5-5 while the Cyclones moved to 9-1.

The match was never close in the first two sets as ISU was staked to 7-3 and 5-1 leads, respectively, before cruising. But in the third set, CU took the early 3-1 margin before bowing away thanks to a 9-1 ISU run to make it 17-9.

“The only way to become a championship program is to work hard and continue to measure yourself against the best,” Kritza said through www.cubuffs.com. “Fortunately for us, we get that chance many times over during the Big 12 season. We must be focused and disciplined enough to rise to that challenge every chance that we get to play one of the nation’s top teams.”

Sophomore outside hitter Rosie Steinhaus paced CU with nine kills while Becah Fogle had eight.

CU will return home for a three-game homestand beginning with a showdown against No. 8 Nebraska at 7 p.m. on Saturday at the Coors Events Center.

Contact CU Independent Sports Editor Cheng Sio at Cheng.sio@colorado.edu.