On Sunday, the Buffaloes took on the Wyoming Cowgirls in a thrilling match totaling 6 lead changes throughout the game. Sophomores Ana Burilović's and Sydney Jordan’s 12 kills each were not enough to beat Wyoming.
The Colorado Buffaloes (6-3) were taken down by the Wyoming Cowgirls (5-2) in an intense momentum-shifting battle, where ultimately the Cowgirls came out on top.
After Wyoming took the first serve and won the first point, the Buffs had a quick and intense start in the first set. Sophomore Ana Burilović led the team's attack on the net, killing two plays with her right arm of thunder. The Buffs took a quick 5-2 advantage and stayed up until a Wyoming timeout where they found themselves leading 18-11. After the timeout, the Buffs came out firing, winning the first point. But Wyoming didn’t let the Buffs take the set too easily as there were a couple of points that could’ve gone either way. Climatically, the Buffs avoided the Wyoming comeback and secured the set 25-20.
However, it was all Wyoming to start the second set. The Cowgirls came out with the same momentum they built late in the first set, getting to a 7-2 lead where Colorado was forced to take a timeout. After the small break, Burilović and Jordan led the Buffaloes in a back-and-forth to win a lengthy couple of points and cut the lead to two. The back-and-forth continued until midway through the set when Colorado head coach Jesse Mahoney called a challenge on a spike called out by Burilović.
After the challenge, the call stood. The Buffaloes couldn’t overcome the lead that Wyoming took early in the set, losing the second set 25-20. The series tied one apiece leading into the third.
The third set began with neither team being able to build enough momentum or a lead big enough to pull away, But the Buffaloes were up 8-5 until they weren’t. With more back-and-forth the two teams found themselves tied up at 12-12 and the Buffs looked increasingly frustrated with every point lost, almost playing angrily. After a couple more back-and-forth kills from each team, Colorado called a timeout down 19-17. Neither team could get a solid run going and Wyoming seemed to have a slight advantage in momentum despite the home crowd cheering on the Buffs.
The third set had 10 ties and five lead changes but conclusively, the Buffaloes found themselves in a 2-1 series deficit as they lost the third set 25-19 with highlight plays from Wyoming to end the set.
The beginning of set four had the Buffaloes on their heels. The Cowgirls came out with a quick lead going up 11-2 early. After multiple timeouts and attempts to salvage the game, The Buffaloes seemed to never get back up on their feet and dropped the set 25-10.
“Every timeout is different,” Mahoney said of his late timeouts. “We just try to go over the offensive assignments, how we can be better, and the game plan.”
Jordan and Burilović led the team with 12 kills each, however, that wasn’t enough to beat the Wyoming Cowgirls as the Buffaloes lost the game 3-1.
The Buffaloes fall to 6-4 and will host rivals Colorado State (3-5) at home on Friday, at 7 p.m. MT (ESPN+).
Cover photo by Cogan Nguyen/Sko Buffs Sports
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