Ana Burilović lifts Buffs to fourth straight sweep

Colorado volleyball junior Ana Burilovic has emerged as the Buffs' top player early this season, leading another win on Thursday over Fresno State. (Photo via CUBuffs.com)

Colorado Buffaloes women’s volleyball continued its dominant season with its fourth straight win, defeating the Fresno State Bulldogs in three straight sets on Thursday. 

The first set was a game of runs.  The Buffs and Bulldogs were tied 11 times, but it was Ana Burilović who led the Buffs with five kills.  

The second set saw more drama as Fresno State got out to a 5-1 run to go up 15-11 after a Peyton Bitter kill in the middle stages.  The Buffs responded swiftly with a 4-0 run of their own to bring the score back to 15-15. 

This started a 13-3 run for the Buffs, which allowed them to take the second set 25-18.  Burilović was pivotal in this run, contributing three kills, including back-to-back kills on the Buffs’ 22nd and 23rd points.  

Fresno State senior Addison Haluska was stellar, putting down six kills in just the first 10 points for the Bulldogs.  

Junior Lily Dwinell, who started the Buffs' run, also contributed on a kill for Colorado’s 24th point of the set.  

The Buffs were able to take this momentum into the third set, absolutely dominating.  Colorado took a 7-0 run early and didn’t look back.  

“We also had several long-serving runs, and it's nice to have two or three servers that can really disrupt the other side,” head coach Jesse Mahoney said.

Burilović remained the hot hand, scoring each of the last four points of the run with three kills and helping Cayla Payne on a block to put the Buffs up 9-2. 

Burilović added another five kills, three of which came consecutively to bring her match total to a season-high 18 kills.  

Both Dwinell and sophomore Maria Spławska added seven kills each.  Setter Rian Finley matched her season high in assists with 38.  

The Buffaloes occasionally struggled with their focus and control in part of the second set, getting burned by the Bulldogs’ Haluksa, who had 15 kills. But when they were focused, they were firmly in control.  

The Buffs now sit at 4-0 on the season.  Their next match is on Friday against the Penn Quakers as they continue the UC Irvine Anteaters Classic.