Buffs continue Big 12 roll with win over Arizona Wildcats

Colorado Buffaloes volleyball huddles during a win over Arizona on Wednesday night in Tucson. Ana Burilovic (#11) and Sarah Morton (#22) were key contributors to the victory. (Photo via CUBuffsVB/X)

The No. 24 Colorado Buffaloes (14-2, 5-0 Big 12) went up against the Arizona Wildcats (8-6, 2-2 Big 12) on Wednesday, where the Buffs continued on their roll to stay undefeated against Big 12 opponents.

The Buffs took it into four sets, securing the first, third and fourth to finish off the night (25-23, 25-28, 25-22).

The Buffs battled with the Cats in almost every aspect. CU fell short with 55 kills, 13 attack errors, six aces, seven blocks and nine service errors. The Wildcats tallied 56 kills, 25 attack errors, three aces, six blocks and nine service errors as well.

“Excited to get the win on the road,” head coach Jesse Mahoney said. “It’s a really good team ... Defensively, we were on the game plan and really frustrated them."

The Buffaloes and Wildcats kept each other’s grasp in the first set, with neither one letting the other out of a four-point lead. But the battle wasn’t good enough to stop Ana Burilović from putting the Cats to sleep with a final kill at set point (24-23) in the first set.

After a rocky start, the Buffaloes began their rebound, putting up five consecutive points. Junior Maria Spławska had a quick kill mid-set (11-10) that helped stretch the Buffs’ lead, helping them keep a one-point advantage throughout the second set. 

Colorado struggled with ball control when it came to serving, as overpowerful kill attempts resulted in too many points being handed over to the Cats.

The Wildcats continued to build up momentum after Arizona head coach Charita Stubbs challenged two calls that were overturned in the Cats’ favor. Nevertheless, the Buffs made their bounce back after yet another kill from Burilović tied the two (24-24) from a floater’s serve that put the Buffs up by another point. 

The Wildcats weren’t handing the set over to the Buffaloes without their claws out. The two teams headed into a deuce, but a swift kill from Wildcat Jordan Wilson and an attack error from Sydney Jordan handed the second set to Arizona.

To start the third set, the Buffs gave up plenty of points and couldn’t keep up defensively against the Cats.  However, they put their heads down and got their horns out. Lilly Dwinell’s solo block  (12-10), alongside Sarah Morton’s service ace, put some more distance between the two (14-10).

The Buffaloes seemed to learn from their mistakes following the second set, keeping a consecutive point lead against the Wildcats in the third. Colorado kept its head in the game and took one serve at a time, a huge factor in keeping the lead. 

CU powered through to set point after Morton stepped up defensively, as the Wildcats couldn’t return a dig from the senior libero (24-17). Colorado kept its horns out and comfortably secured the third set from the Wildcats, 25-18.

It looked as though the Wildcats were going to take the fourth set, as they led until the Buffs caught up five points before the game ended (20-20). A block from the duo of Spławska and Dwinell, in addition to three Burilovic kills, sealed the deal for the Buffaloes, keeping them on their winning streak and setting them at 5-0 in the Big 12.

Colorado’s next game will be against the No. 8 Arizona State Sun Devils (13-2, 4-0 Big 12) at 7 p.m. MT. The battle of conference unbeatens can be streamed on ESPN+.