CU Buffs can’t keep pace with No. 4 Stanford – Boulder Daily Camera

The Colorado volleyball team’s upset bid wasn’t over quite as swiftly as it was for the football team on Saturday.

Nevertheless, fourth-ranked Stanford made relatively quick work of the Buffaloes.

After opening Pac-12 Conference play with a home win against Utah on Thursday, the Buffs capped the first weekend of league play by suffering a 3-0 sweep (25-20, 25-21, 25-20) at the hands of the Cardinal on Sunday at the CU Events Center.

CU dropped to 9-4, but Sunday’s setback was the first suffered via a sweep for the Buffs. The Buffs fell to 1-27 all-time against Stanford, with the Cardinal notching its 13th consecutive win against Colorado.

“Stanford obviously is a very good team and a favorite to get to the Final Four, so we knew it was going to be a challenge,” CU head coach Jesse Mahoney said. “Those are the type of matches that athletes really enjoy. You have to be competitive. You have to play your best. You get to see a measuring stick of where you’re at.

“I was really proud of our effort. Really proud of our execution. I thought we played a lot of really good volleyball. The little things on the margins, the little things on the edge, you can’t get away with against a team like that. That was really the difference.”

The first set was tightly-contested, although the Cardinal held a narrow lead the entire way before scoring the final three points to close the set and take a 1-0 lead.

The Buffs appeared ready to even the match after holding a slim lead for the first half of the second set, but the Cardinal rallied behind a 6-1 run midway through the frame. The Buffs remained in a 20-20 tie, but the Cardinal took control of the match by finishing on a 5-1 run.

Stanford (9-2, 2-0 Pac-12) again led throughout set three, although it once again didn’t put away the Buffs easily. CU remained within 17-15 of the Cardinal late in the set, but the visitors secured the sweep with a match-closing 8-3 run.

The Buffs struggled to slow the Cardinal’s array of attackers, a group led by 2022 Pac-12 Player of the Year Kendall Kipp. Kipp finished with 18 kills, eight digs, four blocks and a pair of aces. Lexi Hadrych paced CU’s attack with 10 kills, although the Buffs finished with a hitting percentage of .172. Stanford posted a .314 mark.

“Defensively, I had to work really hard on not guessing on where the ball was going, but waiting and reacting,” said CU’s Skyy Howard, who recorded five kills and two blocks. “That was just something that I had to remind myself each play.”

The Buffs continue Pac-12 play with their first conference road trip of the season this week, visiting UCLA on Friday (8 p.m. MT, Pac-12 Los Angeles) and USC on Sunday.

“Every match in this conference is hard. Whether they’re on the road — those are especially hard — or whether they’re at home against a top 10 team,” Mahoney said. “I think the only bright spot that came out of this match is we know what we need to do, and when we don’t do it we lose the point against Stanford. There’s some other teams we’ve played where we can not execute our system and still win the point.”

No. 4 Stanford 3, Colorado 0

SU  25 25 25

CU  20 21 20

LEADERS

Kills — Stanford: Kipp 18, Francis 11, Rubin 9. Colorado: Hadrych 10, Tabron 9, Howard 5, Kuehl 4.

Assists — Stanford: Miner 43. Colorado: Simpson 29.

Aces — Stanford: Miner 2, Oglivie 2, Kipp 2. Colorado: Bolles 1.

Blocks — Stanford: Francis 8, Kipp 4, Miner 3, Vicini 3. Colorado: Hadrych 3, Howard 2, Payne 2.

Digs — Stanford: Miner 10, Oglivie 10, Kipp 8. Colorado: Riddle 9, Dwinell 5, Simpson 5.