TicketsBOULDER, Colo. — Cincinnati volleyball fell 3-2 to Colorado on Thursday at the CU Events Center (25-17, 23-25, 25-20, 8-25, 15-12).
The Bearcats dropped to 10-9 overall and 3-6 in the Big 12. The Buffaloes improved to 15-5 and 6-4.
Sydney Nolan led Cincinnati with 24 kills. Ligia Williams added 11 kills on .400 hitting to go with seven blocks, and Kate Lijic had 45 assists, three aces and 13 digs. Ava Ledebuhr and Viktoria Ninova combined for 32 digs, with 17 and 15, respectively.
Colorado outhit Cincinnati .237 to .208 and finished with 59 kills to the Bearcats’ 54. Cincinnati held a 10-4 edge in aces and a 63-54 advantage in digs, and the teams tied at 11.0 blocks apiece. Ana Burilovic had 22 kills for Colorado, while Cayla Payne and Ines Losada each added nine.
Colorado hit .667 in the opening set (15 kills, one error on 21 attempts) after the teams were tied at 7-7. The Buffaloes pushed ahead 15-11 and led 21-14 on the way to a 25-17 win.
Cincinnati opened the second set with a 4-0 run, and the teams were tied seven times. Colorado led 17-16, but the Bearcats scored six of the next seven points to go up 22-18. Colorado trimmed the deficit to 24-23 with three straight points before Nolan’s kill sealed a 25-23 win and evened the match.
Colorado took the third set 25-20, blocking six attacks to Cincinnati’s one and holding the Bearcats to .061 hitting. The Buffaloes led 21-15 before Cincinnati scored three in a row to get within 21-18, but Colorado closed it out.
Cincinnati dominated the fourth set 25-8, holding Colorado to its lowest point total in a set this season. The Bearcats hit .520 with 13 kills and no errors while limiting the Buffaloes to .065. Cincinnati led 13-5 at a Colorado timeout and scored 12 of the final 15 points. Nolan had six kills on .667 hitting in the set, and the Bearcats served five aces with no errors.
The fifth set was tied five times and featured four lead changes. Colorado opened a 3-0 lead before Cincinnati rallied to go up 4-3. Colorado led 11-8, but the Bearcats scored three straight to tie it at 11-11. Colorado then took four of the last five points, ending the match on a Lily Dwinell kill.
// UP NEXT
Cincinnati returns home to host West Virginia at 1 p.m. Sunday at Fifth Third Arena.
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