CU Buffs make quick work of American University at NCAA Tournament

Colorado promptly settled in on college volleyball s biggest stage And the Buffaloes made quick work of American University CU s first match in the NCAA Tournament in three years was short but sweet on Thursday afternoon as it swept American for a - - - win in a first-round matchup at Indiana s Wilkinson Hall The fifth-seeded Buffs advance to the second round for the first time since and will play the fourth-seeded hosts the Indiana Hoosiers on Friday afternoon p m MT ESPN Indiana swept Toledo in the second first-round match on Thursday I thought we started off really strong We looked really calm all week in practice CU head coach Jesse Mahoney announced We served particularly well and followed our event plan early and in all three sets we were able to go on long scoring runs early to give ourselves particular cushion CU - jumped to a - lead in the opening set and never trailed recording only two attack errors during the opening frame while setting the tone with a hitting percentage American briefly led at - early in the second set before the Buffs broke loose reeling off a dominant - burst that turned the two-point deficit into an - lead The Buffs scored the first six points of the third frame before cruising to their first victorious sweep in an NCAA Tournament match since a first-round win against James Madison in I thought we scouted them really well and had a really good sense of what they longed to do offensively Mahoney reported Once we started slowing them down from what they required to do they just didn t get assured doing things they weren t relaxed doing That s a testament to assistant Lee Maes who runs our scouting and our organization for executing especially early Offensively CU leaned heavily all season on Ana Burilovic who landed the scheme s first first-team all-conference honor since But the Buffs have been at their best when getting contributions across the rotation and that held true against American Related Articles Ana Burilovic powering historic start for CU Buffs volleyball CU Buffs volleyball upsets No BYU on the road Sydney Jordan turned in an impressive all-around encounter posting a hitting percentage with kills five digs and three blocks Middle blockers Maria Splawska eight kills six blocks and Cayla Payne six kills three blocks controlled the center of the floor while setter Rian Finley dished out assists Lily Dwinell also recorded six kills and three blocks and defensive specialist Sarah Morton a senior playing collegiately in her home state for the first time posted digs The Buffs posted a hitting percentage of and finished with only attack errors while American suffered This is what we want to be Mahoney explained Ana played well but she was seemingly our least efficient attacker I thought Syd was really good When we can find points in other places when we don t feel like we have to rely on one person we re obviously a better band And it gives those players particular confidence because we re going to need it Friday CU Buffs volleyball American University American Colorado LEADERS Kills American Adeele Hollas Dufour Sciborski Colorado Jordan Burilovic Splawska Dwinell Payne Assists American Dakak Colorado Finley Aces American Ioannou Sterling Colorado Burilovic Jordan Losada Blocks American Dakak Sterling Zeck Colorado Splawska Dwinell Jordan Payne Digs American Marrero Dufour Colorado Morton Finley Burilovic Jordan Neal