In this photo from a September game, sophomore Rosie Steinhaus prepares to serve the ball. (CU Independent file/Adam Alberti)
They are winless, but hopefully not for long.
The Colorado Buffaloes women’s volleyball team will attempt to get their first win in the Big 12 Conference as they go up against Texas Tech on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Coors Events Center.
The Buffaloes have lost their last seven matches and are 0-7 in the conference. However, the losing streak just might be broken as the Red Raiders are also winless in the Big 12.
CU head coach Liz Kritza said she knows what the team has to do to get off the schneid.
“To get our first Big 12 win, we have to be serving very aggressively,” Kritza said. “You have to serve really tough and play really good defense. If we do that, then I think we’ll fare well against Texas Tech and hopefully come away with our first Big 12 win this season.”
In addition to serving power, the team hopes to focus on its blocking, passing skills and floor defense.
“This week we’ve really been working on our passing and blocking,” sophomore outside hitter Rosie Steinhaus said. “Those two kind of go hand in hand.”
The team also sees the importance of distinguishing between when they are playing smoothly and when they are out-of-system. They hope to find good balance between how fast they set the ball and how fast their offense runs.
“Right now we’re kind of stuck in a middle ground where there’s really no difference between the two,” junior middle blocker Schylur Edelman said.
Despite the losing, Kritza said the team has been improving weekly and will hopefully show its increased skills in this match.
“We’re able to remain focused on continually improving, which is difficult, especially when you’re not winning,” Kritza said.
However, the losing won’t break the spirit of the team. They prefer to focus on the progress they’ve made.
“We work hard and we’re definitely getting there,” Steinhaus said. “You can see progress every day in practice. I feel like we’re improving and I know we’ll get there.”
The combination of progress and lessons learned from each loss have helped the Buffs prepare for every match.
“We expect to win every match, and you know what, if we lose we have to learn from it,” Edelman said. “When you lose, no matter when it is, you have to learn from it because if you don’t, then it was in vain.”
Kritza knows the challenges her team is up against and believes this awareness will lead to victory.
“There is no easy game, there is no night off,” Kritza said. “We know what our purpose is. We know why we’re here. We remain focused on all the right things. We have an underlying goal.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Marlee Horn at Marlee.horn@colorado.edu.
