Colorado assistant volleyball coach Lee Maes has been promoted to associate head coach, effective immediately, as announced by head coach Jesse Mahoney on Wednesday.
“Lee is a consummate professional and an integral part of our staff and volleyball program. Our players are lucky to have him as a coach and a mentor and I look forward to working with him for years to come,” Mahoney said.
Maes, who is in his second season with the Buffs, also serves as the team’s recruiting coordinator.
During the 2016 season, he helped the Buffs to a 14-16 overall record, as well as a 6-14 mark in Pac-12 play. CU finished its non-conference slate with an 8-2 record, which included several huge wins. The Buffs recorded back-to-back wins against ranked opponents for the first time in school history when they took down No. 13 Penn State and No. 17 Illinois at the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge. CU also earned its first win against Colorado State since 2002, defeating the Rams 3-1.
The Buffs knocked off three more ranked opponents during the Pac-12 schedule, one at home and two on the road. CU recorded a 3-1 win over No. 12 UCLA at Coors Events Center and knocked off No. 13 Washington State (3-2) in Pullman, Wash., which was the Cougars first home loss of the season. CU took down No. 17 Utah (3-2) in the final contest of the season in Salt Lake City.
The Buffs were ranked in the AVCA Poll for five weeks and reached as high as 16th. After they fell out of the poll, they were still receiving votes for another five weeks.
Several individual Buffs earned recognition during the season, most notably Gabby Simpson who was named to the AVCA All-Pacific South honorable mention team after she was selected to the All-Pac-12 honorable mention team. Simpson was joined on the all-conference team by teammate Naghede Abu and Alexa Smith. Simpson was also a member of the Pac-12 All-Academic team with Abu, Anna Pfefferle, Stephanie Shadley and Cierra Simpson.
UPDATED SPRING SCHEDULE:
The schedule for CU’s spring volleyball tournament this Saturday, April 8, has been modified since it was announced a month ago. The Buffs will play Colorado State at 11 a.m. in the George Boedecker Court, which is the upper court in the practice facility. Northern Colorado will then square off against CSU at 12:15 p.m.
The final match of the day will be between CU and UNC at 1:30 p.m. in the main gym at Coors Events Center. All three matches are free and are open to the public.
The Buffs’ spring training block will run through the end of April. They will host one more match at CEC on April 22 against Wyoming at 12 p.m.
News courtesy of Colorado Athletics.
Leave a Reply