On Oct. 14, sophomore outside hitter Becah Fogle celebrates a point for the Buffs after they defeated Texas Tech 3-1. CU beat Texas Tech again Saturday, 3-0. (CU Independent/Molly Maher)
It isn’t official yet, but the Colorado Buffaloes volleyball team might have ensured that they won’t be the worst team in the Big 12 Conference.
The Buffs swept Texas Tech in three sets, 25-21, 25-22, 25-18, Saturday at United Spirit Arena in Lubbock, Texas. It was CU’s second conference win and they both came against the Red Raiders. The Buffs snapped a seven-game losing streak and improved their record to 7-17 overall while the Red Raiders dropped to 2-20 and remain winless in the Big 12.
“The next step we need to make as a team is to use this positive as a springboard to more improvements, which will spur even greater success for us,” CU head coach Liz Kritza said in a news release. “That is our goal and we are determined to meet it.”
In each of the three sets, a common theme developed: CU finished strong.
Trailing 20-18 in the first set, the Buffs went on a 7-1 run to close out the set. Tied at 20 in the second set, CU scored four of the next seven points to go up 24-23. Then, junior middle blocker Schylur Edelman hammered the ball for the kill to clinch the second set. In the final set, the Buffs didn’t toy around as they strung a 6-1 run to take a 19-14 lead en route to the win.
“This match was important for us because we have struggled at times this season with being able to put complete sets together with high level plays,” Kritza said in a news release. “We really needed to have a good performance today, as much for our team confidence and for our overall development.”
Three Buffs recorded more than 10 kills including sophomore outside hitter Becah Fogle, who had a double-double with a career-high 15 digs and a game-high 14 kills. Senior setter Kaitlyn Burkett dished out 40 assists.
CU will try to string consecutive wins for the second time this season when they battle the Baylor Bears at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Waco, Texas.
Contact CU Independent Co-Sports Editor Cheng Sio at Cheng.sio@colorado.edu.
