The 6-0 Colorado Buffaloes will hit the road this weekend to compete in the prestigious Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge in Champaign, Ill.
The Buffs will face third-ranked Penn State (5-0) on Friday, Sept. 8 at 3:30 p.m. MT, and on Sept. 9, CU will take on Illinois (6-0) at 1:30 p.m. MT. This is the third straight year CU will compete in the challenge.
Links to the live stats, as well as a live stream for both of CU matches, are available at CUBuffs.com.
ABOUT THE BUFFS: CU has tied a school record with its 6-0 start after sweeping Wake Forest, Rice and Abilene Christian last weekend to win the Omni Invitational. The Buffs are 18-2 in sets to start the season as they have only dropped two this season (at the NIKE Invitational in Norman, Okla.).
Junior Alexa Smith leads the Buffs and ranks sixth in the Pac-12 with 4.29 kills per set. She is also 10th in the league in hitting percentage at .377. Three of Smith’s teammates are hitting higher than her, including Pac-12 leader senior Anna Pfefferle at .508. Junior Naghede Abu is fourth in the conference (.413) and senior Joslyn Hayes ranks ninth (.387).
Colorado’s offense is being directed by freshman setter Brynna DeLuzio. She is third in the Pac-12, 17th in the NCAA, with an 11.70 assists per set average and has directed the Buffs to the league’s second best hitting efficiency (sixth in the NCAA) at .326. Defensively the Buffs are led by Abu, who is recording 1.65 blocks per set (16th in the NCAA, fourth in the Pac-12). Junior Gabby Carta-Samuels is seventh in the conference with a 3.67 digs per set mark.
SCOUTING THE NITTANY LIONS: Penn State enters the weekend as the No. 3 team in the AVCA Coaches Poll. The Nittany Lions have earned a 5-0 mark to start the season, which includes a four-set win over then-top-ranked Stanford and a five-set victory over Texas A&M last weekend in College Station, Texas. PSU swept UT-Martin, Delaware and West Virginia to open the season.
Leading the way for the Lions is Simone Lee, who is averaging 4.11 kills per set while hitting .355. Haleigh Washington leads the NCAA with a .575 hitting percentage (45 kills and three errors on 73 attacks). PSU is third in the nation with a .368 hitting percentage, thanks in part to a pair of setters. Bryanna Weiskircher is handing out 6.89 assists per set, while Abby Detering is averaging 5.44 per set. Washington leads the PSU block, averaging 1.22 per set and Kendall White is averaging a team-best 3.83 digs per set.
Penn State owns a 6-2 advantage in the all-time series against CU, but the Buffs did win the last meeting between the two teams at the 2016 Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge in Boulder. CU earned a five set victory, holding the Lions to just three points in the final set, which is the CU record for the fewest points allowed in a fifth set in the rally scoring era.
SCOUTING THE FIGHTING ILLINI: Illinois is also 6-0 entering the weekend and is receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll. The Fighting Illini have swept five of their six opponents this season; the only exception was a four-set win over Montana State in Bozeman, Mont. The teams they have beaten in three sets include: Gonzaga, Air Force, Kent State, then-No. 24 Western Kentucky and Louisville.
The Illini have two players averaging 3.00 kills per set. Jacqueline Quade leads the team with 3.95 per set, while Ali Bastianelli is averaging 3.00 per set with the second best hitting percentage in the country at .573 (57 kills and three errors on 89 attacks). She also leads the nation in blocks, averaging 2.26 per set. Jordan Poulter is directing the offense to the fourth best mark in the NCAA at .327. She is averaging 10.89 assists per set, while adding 2.11 digs per set.
The Illini have a 4-3 edge in the all-time series against the Buffs, but CU did take the last meeting, 3-2, at the 2016 Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge in Boulder.
WHAT’S NEXT: Colorado will return to Coors to host Xavier on Sept. 15 at 7 p.m., before heading north to Fort Collins, Colo., to face Albany (11 a.m.) and CSU (7 p.m.) on Sept. 16.
Press Release courtesy of Colorado Athletics.
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