DENTON, Texas – The Colorado Buffaloes women’s volleyball team opened up their season and made the trip to Denton, Texas over the weekend for the North Texas Invitational tournament.
CU started off the weekend on a high note Friday night with a competitive 3-2 win over the hosting North Texas Mean Green. Each match was separated by an extremely close margin, with two sets being decided in extra play. The Buffs embraced the pressure and prevailed in both sets: 28-26, and 27-25. Both teams were high-energy, refusing to give up on hustle plays and responding well after losing sets.
One key element in the win was junior setter Taylor Simpson. Dishing out 48 assists, she helped her team stay aggressive throughout. Simpson was also solid on the block, adding another threat for the Mean Green to worry about. Her fantastic performance also helped push her total career assists over the 2,000 marker.
Other difference makers were sophomores Ana Burilović with an impactful 20 kills, and Sydney Jordan, showing her versatility, adding 16 more. Junior libero Sarah Morton worked tirelessly to come up with 26 digs – tying her career high.
Perhaps showing signs of fatigue from travel or an exciting previous game, the Buffaloes fell to the Hurricanes on Saturday afternoon with a clean 3-0 sweep. Miami came out hot and wasted no time going on quick runs and getting CU out of its system. Struggling to recover after slow starts early on in the sets, the Buffs never found their footing or got in a productive rhythm.
Finishing the weekend on a high note and getting some much-needed redemption, Colorado flipped the script with an efficient 3-0 sweep of Rutgers on Sunday. Once again, Simpson led her team to success with 23 assists, and Burilović stayed aggressive for 13 kills. Using the fresh loss to Miami as motivation to get things back on track, these matches were far less nail-biting, with the Scarlet Knights being held under 20 points in all three sets.
The Buffaloes return home to the CU Events Center for the Buffs Classic on Friday night. In another tough tournament, CU will take on the Georgia Bulldogs at 7 p.m. MT, followed by Fresno State and Washington later in the weekend. All tournament games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Cover photo by CU Athletics/CUBuffs.com
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