Colorado volleyball dropped its first match of the 2021 season here Wednesday evening in a 3-0 sweep (25-19, 25-23, 25-21) to Washington State to open conference play.
The No.24-ranked Buffs (9-1, 0-1 Pac-12) lost their seventh-straight match against the Cougars (7-4, 1-0 Pac-12) who pick up their seventh-straight victory this season.
“Tough open to the season. WSU put a lot of pressure on us from the service line and we had our worst passing performance of the season,” head coach Jesse Mahoney said. “We struggled to get our middles involved and WSU camped on our lefts. Looking forward to a tough test with Utah at home on Friday.”
Leah Clayton was effective as ever for Colorado with 14 kills and a .212 hitting percentage. She was one dig shy of a double-double with nine while setter Jenna Ewert did capture a double-double with 26 assists and 12 digs. Ewert now has 36 career double-doubles and is tied with Taylor Simpson for 12th in CU history.
Also for Colorado, Jahara Campbell came in during the second set and finished with seven kills and a .375 hitting percentage in her first conference action. She was joined by Jill Schneggenburger who had seven kills and a pair of aces.
On the defensive side, Brynna DeLuzio had a match-high 18 digs, averaging six per set which brings her season average to 4.75 digs per set. The Buffs put down seven blocks led by Alexia Kuehl and Meegan Hart who each had three.
Serving made the largest difference in the match as Washington State put down eight aces to the Buffs’ five. The strong serving also led to six unassisted kills for Washington State coming off of overpasses. Magda Jehlarova led the Cougars with 10 kills on a .348 hitting percentage, three aces and six blocks.
Colorado will look to respond quickly as it hosts No.15 Utah Friday at 7 p.m. for the first Top-25 matchup in the CU Events Center in four years. The Utes face off with No.6 Washington Wednesday night in Seattle.
View more on BuffZone