Freshman Nikki Lindow, left, and sophomore Kerra Schroeder jump to block Iowa State's Alison Landwehr at the net. The Buffs lost to ISU 3 games to 1 on Wednesday night at the Coors Event Center. (CU Independent/Phil McMichael)
The Buffs fell 22-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-10, but not by lack of effort.
Colorado falls to 7-9 overall with a record of 4-6 in the Big 12, and Iowa State improves to 14-4 with a record of 7-3 in the Big 12.
The team admits to making progress and growing from the loss, but that doesn’t seem to take the sting away.
“Like [junior setter Alyssa Valentine] was saying when we were coming up here, ‘I hate losing more than anything,’” said sophomore outside hitter Kerra Schroeder. “And so do I. I think our whole team does. We come from winning teams before we came to college, and we just don’t expect to lose.”
Schroeder finished the night with 21 kills, and Valentine recorded 35 assists and 10 digs.
However, the Buffs did not seem to have an answer for the Cyclones’ senior outside hitter Victoria Henson. Henson led Iowa State with 24 kills and recorded 16 digs in the win.
“Victoria is a fantastic player,” CU head coach Liz Kritza said. “You don’t ever really contain her. You neutralize her. She’s a fantastic player, and all of her accolades are deserved.”
The Buffs attempted to maintain balance in their own team, but lost momentum too many times to come out with the win.
“I think that we had our ups and our downs,” Schroeder said. “I think that we need to maintain our ups and our level of play. I think that’s one thing that we definitely need to work on.”
In the first set, the Buffaloes played as if they were the ranked team. The lead changed five times, and the score was tied nine times during the set.
A kill by Schroeder helped give them a 6-4 lead. After many of those ties, the Buffs fell to 16-14 and took a timeout.
A long rally and two more kills by Schroeder got the Buffs within one at 17-16. The Buffs finished the set out strong, coming back from being down 22-20 to take the set at 25-22 following three Cyclone errors and kills by Valentine and Schroeder.
“The first game we just came out really aggressive,” Valentine said. “We were confident. That’s why that game ended up the way it did. And then we lost our confidence, and we kind of, like, lost our swagger as the match went on.”
The Buffs still had some of that swagger to start out the second set.
A block by freshman middle blocker Nikki Lindow put them up 4-3. Once again, the Buffs tied seven times, including ties at six and eight all.
CU got within two at 18-16 and took a timeout when they fell to 21-16 but never fully recovered. Iowa State took the set 25-17.
The third set was once again filled with nine ties.
Early kills by junior outside hitter and junior middle blocker Anicia Santos helped give the Buffs a 7-6 lead. More kills by Schroeder and Valentine helped push the lead to 11-9.
After several ties, CU took a timeout when they were down 16-13 and had to take another timeout at 21-14. The Buffs got within two to save an Iowa State match point but dropped the set 25-22.
The fourth set was the Cylcones’ from the beginning.
Iowa State started the set with a 4-0 run. CU took a timeout when they were down by four at 9-5, and following a 9-1 Cyclone run, the Buffs took another timeout. The Buffs never gained the momentum they needed and fell 25-10.
Despite seeing areas of inexperience, the team said they know they are making progress and are ready to win.
“Playing these types of teams is what gets us prepared and what helps our young players really sharpen their teeth and hone their skills,” Kritza said. “If we want to be a high level team, if we want to be the best, we have to play the best. Fortunately enough for us, we play in a league where two nights a week we get the best in the country.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Marlee Horn at Marlee.horn@colorado.edu.
