Buffs show heart, but Indiana closes door on Colorado’s NCAA Tournament run

Colorado's coaches address their fifth-seeded Buffs. (Photo by Fidel Gonzalez/Sko Buffs Sports)

The No.5-seeded Colorado Buffaloes (23-9, 12-6 Big 12) fell to the No.4-seeded Indiana Hoosiers (25-7, 14-6 Big 10) in the second round of the NCAA tournament in Wilkinson Hall. The Buffs lost in three straight sets (20-25, 17-25, 23-25).

From the opening serve, Colorado fought from behind in a match where Indiana fired on all cylinders. The Hoosiers applied pressure with disciplined serves, blocks and kills. It seemed whenever one team hit the eight-to-10-point mark, the Hoosiers turned it up. The Buffs hit their groove in the third set, but at that point, it was too little too late.

In the first set, the Buffs came out swinging and jumped out to a 6-2 lead behind kills from middle blocker Cayla Payne and pin attacker Ana Burilović. Then a few costly service errors helped the Hoosiers capture momentum in the set. They went on a 7-0 run with help from standout freshman hitter Jaidyn Jager to bring the lead to 14-11.

Colorado head coach Jesse Mahoney called a timeout to talk things over with his team. Back-to-back attack errors from outside hitter Avry Tatum gave the Buffs some life, but a kill from fellow hitter Candela Alonso-Corcelles ended the set 25-20.

In the second set, the Buffs faltered more with an early Sydney Jordan service error, something that has haunted the Buffs all season. Colorado kept it close, tying the score at 10. But the Hoosiers exploded on a 10-3 run and created distance. 

Coach Mahoney used both of his timeouts, trying to stop the inevitable. Once again, errors led his team in the wrong direction. Burilović tried to keep the Buffs alive with a kill, but Jager sealed the set with one of her own, 25-17.

In the third set, the Buffs seemed to have found their groove, but it was too late; the Hoosiers could smell the sweep. The Buffs kept it close throughout the whole set, and then the run they needed finally came. They jumped out to a 21-16 lead, but the Hoosiers didn’t let the set get away. 

Indiana got to match point thanks to a 9-4 run powered by its star hitters. Burilović then committed another attack error to end the set and the match, 25-23.

The Buffs hit .208, led by star pin hitter Burilović with 19 kills, with Jordan and Payne adding seven each. The Hoosiers were led by Alonso-Corcelles with 16 kills and Jager with 15. As a team, the Hoosiers hit .378.

“Congratulations to IU, they played a fantastic match," Mahoney said. "It was a disappointing result for us. I don't feel like we played our best match. That being said, I'm proud of what our team accomplished this year.”

“We were picked 10th in our conference and finished third,” he added. “No one but the people in [our] locker room expected us to make the tournament, much less the second round. Not happy with this last result, but proud of our players and our season."

It wasn’t the ending Colorado hoped for, but the Buffs leave Wilkinson Hall with a season defined by determination, progress, and belief. As they head into the offseason, the lessons learned on the NCAA stage will shape a veteran group hungry to return and go even further next year.