Press release courtesy of Colorado Athletics.
Colorado came out strong on Sunday afternoon and knocked off No. 12 UCLA in four sets (25-21, 24-26, 25-15, 28-26), earning its second Pac-12 win this season at the Coors Events Center.
The win also gave the 20th-ranked Buffs their 10th win of the season (10-4) and they are now 2-2 in the Pac-12. The loss was just the third for UCLA as it is now 11-3 overall (2-2 Pac-12).
WHAT HAPPENED: After suffering a tough loss on Friday night to No. 23 Southern California, the Buffs came out ready for a fight with UCLA. Four Buffs recorded double-digit kills as CU recorded its third win in the all-time series against the Bruins. Alexa Smith led the team with 16 kills, while Stephanie Shadley andGabby Simpson each added 12 kills. Naghede Abu also tallied double-digits with 10 kills.
The Buffs didn’t just perform well on offensive, but the defense also did well recording 75 digs and 10.0 blocks. Cierra Simpson picked up a season-best 27 digs to lead both teams. Smith added 14 digs and Gabby Simpson had 13 digs. At the net, Abu put up six blocks, a match-best.
SET 1: The Buffs went up 8-4 to start the match and held a 15-12 advantage at the media break. CU continued to perform well and at 21-17, UCLA needed to take a timeout. The Bruins were able to cut CU’s lead to two (23-21), but that was as close as the Buffs let them get as CU finished the set 25-21.
SET 2: The second set started off very close. The Buffs held the lead until UCLA put together a 4-0 run to take a 12-11 advantage. The Bruins were able to increase their lead to 21-17, but the Buffs answered, taking the next five points for a 22-21 advantage. UCLA responded with their own run (3-0) to get to set point (24-22). The Buffs fought off the first two points to even the game at 24-24, but the Bruins closed the set on the following pair of points (26-24)
SET 3: Colorado controlled the third set from the start, taking a 9-2 lead. The Bruins were able to cut CU’s lead to four a couple of times, but the Buffs were able to increase their advantage to 10 late in the set (22-12). CU went on to take the set easily, finishing 25-15. The Buffs hit a match-high .424 with 18 kills and only four errors on 164 attacks.
SET 4: The Buffs got out to another strong start, going up 13-8 before the Bruins cut the lead to one at 15-14. CU was able to increase its lead to three at 20-17, but UCLA was not going to go away and evened the score at 22-22. The Bruins took the following point, but Smith answered with a kill, again tying the score (23-23). Extra points would be needed again, and the Buffs dug deep to finish the set, and the match, 28-26.
TRIPLE-DOUBLE QUEEN: Gabby Simpson earned her fourth straight triple-double, a school record, with 12 kills, 30 assists and 13 digs against UCLA. She now has five career triple-doubles and is tied for the second most in CU history with Kelly Campbell. Elizabeth Gower owns the record with 10.
TEAM STATISTICS: The Buffs hit .250 with 62 kills and 21 errors on 164 attacks, while UCLA hit .199 with 51 kills and 19 errors on 161 attacks. CU recorded 58 assists to UCLA’s 49. The Buffs out-dug the Bruins 75-66 and out-blocked them 10.0-4.0.
NOTEABLE: The Buffs are now 10-4 on the season, 6-2 at home … The Buffs are 170-90 all-time when ranked in the AVCA Poll… UCLA leads the all-time series against CU 10-3…The Buffs have beaten UCLA in Boulder twice now and once on the road…The first win for the Buffs against UCLA was in Boulder on Sept. 27, 2013…UCLA only had two losses this season prior to dropping the match to the Buffs; the Bruins fell 3-1 to then-No. 15 San Diego (Sept. 10) and lost to Washington State (3-2) on Sept. 23…CU’s next four matches will be on the road.
NEXT UP: Colorado will head out on the road for a pair of matches in Northern California. The Buffs will face Stanford on Friday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m., and on Sunday, Oct. 9 at 4 p.m., Cal will host the Buffs. Both matches will be broadcast on Pac-12 Mountain and Pac-12 Bay Area.
QUOTABLE:
Jesse Mahoney, head coach
On Today’s Performance – “It was a fantastic performance against a really good team. I thought we did a really nice job of regrouping. I always say we have good practice after a loss but we had a rough one yesterday so it was nice to see us save that for today, I guess the setters did a fantastic job, we had four kids with double digit kills which was much better that we could spread the ball out that way. I thought we were really disciplined, staying on our game plan, especially defensively.”
On Strong Set Three – “A lot of the times losing a set going into the break is tough and you worry about that set carrying over. The team did a great job of not not letting that happen, coming out and staying fresh. I thought our energy in that set was fantastic.”
On Going Into Next Weekend’s Matches With A Win – “Every match, home or away, is going to be a tough match. Every one we play will be a top 20 team or top 50 team at the very least. We really needed this win and to play well in a win to feel good about ourselves going into next week. We know we can play with the best in the country and today helped to prove it.”
Gabby Simpson, setter/hitter
On Their Mindset Going Into the Third Set – “In the locker room, we talked about not having third set lulls. We had to change our mentality and go into that set as if it were the first one. We didn’t want to lose that set.”
On How The Team Bounced Back From the Loss On Friday – “We needed to flip the switch because we knew we had UCLA today and we had to come out strong.”
Alexa Smith, outside hitter
On How The Team Bounced Back From the Loss On Friday – “Obviously we didn’t feel good about the loss the other night so we knew we needed to make some changes on our side with a new mentality going into this game.”
On How A Win Today Helps The Team Going Into The Next Match – “It always feels good to win on your home court. It give us some momentum going into these away games for the next two weekends.”
On How Her Performance Today – “I haven’t felt very good about the past couple games so I think I just dialed in a lot more. I focused more this game. We talked about how we need high hands and I think it really helps everyone.”
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