Playing against the No. 5 team in the country and the No. 1 seed of the conference in a home arena filled with a sea of fans dressed in red might seem like a nightmare. But the University of Colorado women’s volleyball team played like they weren’t even fazed against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Despite losing 25-21, 25-20, 25-17 to the Huskers (24-2, 16-1 Big 12), Colorado (6-17, 3-14 Big 12) once again showed great promise against a ranked team.
“Every single point was a struggle for them too, you could see,” sophomore outside hitter Kerra Schroeder said.
Schroeder finished the night with a .429 hitting percentage, and head coach Liz Kritza was impressed by how well CU faired against such a strong team.
As for all those red shirts in the audience, the team seemed to just be even more driven.
“They probably were pretending that all those red shirts were black and gold,” Kritza said.
The Buffs would like to keep the rivalry going even as CU moves to the Pac 12 and Nebraska makes its way to the Big 10. Freshman libero/defensive specialist Megan Beckwith said she likes playing against such great competition.
“I think it’s a good rivalry, and it’s a friendly rivalry,” Beckwith said.
Schroeder said she agrees and couldn’t help but be proud of how her team played against one of the top teams in the country.
“We had nothing to lose this game – at all, whatsoever,” Schroeder said. “All we had was to prove to them that they should respect us, and they should, obviously, at this point.”
The Buffs came out strong in the first set, with a 5-0 run, and kept the lead until the Huskers battled up to a 14-13 lead. After that the Buffs could never to get back on top. A kill by Schroeder (who hit .750 in the set) tied the game back up, but a 3-0 NU run forced the Buffs to take a timeout. Colorado stayed in the game – getting within two points several times – thanks in part to seven NU errors in the set, but never regained the lead and fell 25-21.
The second set might have had some Husker fans biting their nails. The score was tied 12 times during the set, with six of those happening during the first 12 points. A couple kills by Schroeder helped the Buffaloes gain a 9-7 advantage. CU once again grabbed the lead after an NU out put them up 14-13. The Buffs tied it up at 16 all, but had to take a timeout when they fell down 21-17. Colorado came within three twice and even saved an NU set point, but lost the set 25-20.
The Huskers came out with a vengeance in the third, taking a big, early lead at 7-2. After a CU timeout, a kill by junior outside hitter Rosie Steinhaus and an ace by Schroeder, the Buffs narrowed the margin to 7-4. A sneak attack kill by junior setter Alyssa Valentine brought them within two at 11-9. NU went on a quick 4-0 run, but two more kills by Schroeder made it tighter, with the Buffs down at 15-11. Nebraska held onto the lead, but Colorado caused some nerves at 20-15, and NU called a timeout. Two big kills by junior outside hitter Richi Bigelow saved two NU match points, but the Buffs fell 25-17.
With just three regular season games remaining, coach Kritza hopes the Buffs can take their positive, productive attitude from this night to help them pull off a few upsets.
Kritza said, “What we have to do is build on this and use this as momentum to carry us through the rest of the season and really pull away.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Marlee Horn at Marlee.horn@colorado.edu.
