CU volleyball loses to Bears in five

The University of Colorado volleyball team found itself in another close match on Saturday night against the University of California Bears but lost in five sets (25-23, 22-25, 25-23, 11-25, 8-15).

Colorado had an 11-2 record going into the match and a 1-0 record in the Pac-12 Conference after beating the University of Utah. California was 6-5 and lost its Pac-12 opener to Stanford University last week.

Sophomores Ana Pantovic and Neira Ortiz Ruiz prepare for a block against a spike. Ana had a quiet night on the stat sheet, while her teammate Ortiz Ruiz managed to collect 15 points in the match. (CU Independent/Tyler Gallardo)

The Buffs had 61 kills and an average .167 hitting percentage. Outside hitters freshman Alexis Austin and sophomore Neira Ortiz Ruiz led Colorado in kills, with Austin recording 17 and Ortiz Ruiz 14. Sophomore outside hitter Emily Alexis and junior middle blocker Nikki Lindow helped the Buffs defensively as they both contributed five blocks.

The first set was very close at the beginning with both teams scoring early and each team contributing a service error. However, the Bears pulled ahead to make it 11-6, forcing Colorado to call a timeout. Sophomores Kelsey English and Ortiz Ruiz were able to help the Buffs get back into the game after the timeout, and CU won the first set 25-23.

California got a good start in the second set and were able to hold onto the lead, taking the set 25-22.

The third set also started close. After some attack errors from CU however, California was able to gain a little lead. The Buffs fought back though and they won the third set 25-23, giving them a 2-1 set advantage over California.

CU started the fourth set with a 2-1 lead, but it would be the Buffs’ last lead of the match. The Bears got an easy 25-11 fourth set win to bring the Buffs into a fifth set.

California led quickly in the fifth as well, going up 5-1. CU tried to tighten the score at 7-5, but it was too late by then. The Bears would finish the fifth set 15-8, taking the match victory.

The Buffs will head to Oregon next weekend where they will take on Oregon State University on Friday, Sept. 28 and the University of Oregon on Saturday, Sept. 29.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Jillian Arja at [email protected]