Junior Alyssa Valentine (9) tries to get the ball past Oklahoma Sooners' Keila Rodriguez (17) and Sallie McLaurin (14) on Wednesday at Coor's Events Center. The Buffs lost the Big 12 opener 0-3. (CU Independent/Stephanie Davis)
CU’s women’s volleyball team kicked off its Big 12 season with a bang, but didn’t come out with the outcome they had hoped for.
Colorado was swept in straight sets by the University of Oklahoma, 25-15, 25-23 and 25-21, Wednesday night at the Coors Events Center in Boulder.
The Buffaloes fell to 3-4 overall (0-1 Big 12), while the Sooners improved to 9-3 overall (1-0 Big 12).
Sophomore outside hitter Kerra Schroeder led the Buffs with 11 kills and picked-up 11 digs, giving her the second double-double of her career.
Freshman defensive specialist/libero Megan Beckwith led the team with a match-high 12 digs.
“You have a couple points in each match or each practice, and then the frequencies of those increase, and then all of the sudden they turn around and look back, and they think, ‘Wow, we’ve come a really far way,’” said head coach Liz Kritza in a news release. “But individual progress is something we really place great value on, and we look for it in everything that we’re doing with these young players.”
The Buffs started out strong with a 5-2 lead in the first set before the Sooners went on a 7-1 run.
Play went back and forth with CU taking three of the next four points, but OU answered by taking four straight to increase their lead to 14-9. The Buffs hit just .023, while the Sooners had a .321 attack percentage in the set. CU just couldn’t battle back and fell 25-15.
Once again, in the second set, CU came out strong, taking an early 8-3 lead. After the Sooners tied the score up at 10, the set remained close, with neither team taking more than a two-point lead until OU went up 22-19. The Buffs came back within one point to trail 23-22, but the Sooners capped it off at 25-22.
The third set began with another Buff lead at 12-7. But the Sooners then went on a 7-2 run to pull ahead 15-14. Later, the Buffs cut OU’s lead to two at 22-20, but eventually fell 25-21.
“You have players that are really showing glimpses of promise and hope, and the idea is that they recognize that, and they start to have continuity and start putting two of those together and then three, and that’s how really high-level experience comes to pass,” Kritza said.
The Buffs head to Lincoln, Neb. to face the No. 4 Huskers on Friday, Sept. 17 at 6 p.m.
Contact CU Independent Volleyball Reporter Marlee Horn at Marlee.horn@colorado.edu.
