Tag: Lady Buffs Volleyball

Lady Buffs Volleyball Wins and Attendance Peaked in 2014

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The CU Lady Buffs volleyball team peaked in 2014.

There was a small group of players who raised their level of play in 2015. Unfortunately, their efforts were not enough to carry the Lady Buffs volleyball team to the NCAAs. To add insult to injury, the average size of the crowds in 2015 was less than during the previous season.

CU Lady Buffs Volleyball
Setter Nicole Edelman led the CU Lady Buffs Volleyball team to two NCAA tournaments during her career.

The University of Colorado became a member of the PAC-12 Conference in 2010 and began competition in 2011. During their first two seasons the Lady Buffs volleyball team was the doormat for the league; however they won slightly more than half their conference matches for the 2013 – 2015 seasons.

The Lady Buffs won only 1 of 22 conference matches in their first season. On a positive note, they won their only conference match at home. Since the first year, there has been steady improvement on the court and in the stands. The Lady Buffs were:
• 1-21 in 2011.
• 4-16 in 2012.
• 9-11 in 2013.
• 11-9 in 2014.
• 11-9 in 2015.
In five PAC-12 seasons they have had three losing conference seasons and were selected for two NCAA appearances. They won 36 conference matches and lost 66. The Lady Buffs reach a plateau in 2014.

Their home court conference record also got better. The Lady Buffs were:
• 1-10 in 2011.
• 4-6 in 2012.
• 7-3 in 2013.
• 6-4 in 2014.
• 7-3 in 2015.
The Lady Buffs have won 25 home matches and lost 26 in five seasons. On the road they were 11-40.

Finally, their average attendance at conference home games showed steady gains until 2015. Attendance at the Lady Buff home matches was:
• 814 in 2011.
• 1,226 in 2012.
• 1,169 in 2013.
• 1,452 in 2014.
• 1,395 in 2015.
With the exception of the Oregon match, more than 1,000 players were in attendance at all home matches. Unfortunately there were no matches where the Buffs had more than 2,000 fans in attendance.

Lady Buffs Volleyball Home Conference Attendance 2015

Date Opponent Score Attendance
9-Oct USC 2-3 1,899
11-Oct UCLA 0-3 1,972
16-Oct California 3-1 1,432
18-Oct Stanford 3-1 1,809
30-Oct Oregon State 3-2 1,116
31-Oct Oregon 2-3 948
12-Nov Arizona State 3-2 1,672
14-Nov Arizona 3-0 1,029
25-Nov Washington State 3-2 1,055
27-Nov Utah 3-1 1,021

Best wishes to Coach Mahoney and the Lady Buffs volleyball program for a productive offseason and for continued improvement in 2016. The program deserves better support than it has seen in the past.

Lady Buffs Volleyball Staying Home this Postseason

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On Sunday, the NCAA announced the field for their 2015 women’s volleyball championships. The field of 64 included 32 automatic berths for conference championships and an equal number of at-large slots.

The Big 10 has bragging rights for the most number of teams (10) followed by 7 PAC-12 teams and 5 Big 12 teams. The top seeds were: No. 1 University of Southern California, No. 2 University of Minnesota, No. 3 University of Texas, and No. 4 University of Nebraska.

The announcement of the field took an unexpected turn for Colorado Buffs fans. The hometown team finished fifth in the PAC-12 with an 11-9 conference record and a 19-13 overall record. Despite their showing, the Lady Buffs were not invited to attend the Big Dance – yet invitations were extended to the 6th place Ducks (10-10 in conference and 16-13 overall), 7th place Wildcats (9-11 in conference and 19-13 overall) and 8th Sun Devils (8-12 in conference and 19-12 overall).

Here’s the way the conference season unfolded for CU:
• On a positive note, the Buffs swept Arizona, California, and Oregon State.
• The Buffs split matches with Arizona State, Oregon, Stanford, and Utah.
• The Buffs lost one match to Washington and defeated Washington State in one match.
• The Buffs were swept by USC and UCLA

The Buffs played 6 matches with a score of 3-2.
• They defeated Arizona State, Oregon, Oregon State, and Washington State.
• They lost to Oregon and USC.

In pre-conference play, the Buffs were 8-4. They were swept by Penn State (8th at the end of the season) and Illinois (21st at the end of the season). They dropped a 3-1 match at home to San Diego, who received votes in the final rankings. The Buffs other loss came at the hands of Rice, 3-1.

On a positive note, the Buffs had a 3-2 win over Florida State (ranked 19th at the end of the season). The other wins were against teams they shouldn’t have been playing:
• Oklahoma 12-16
• Sam Houston State, 14-18
• Louisiana-Lafayette, 6-23
• Montana State, 3-21
• Weber State, 6-22
• George Mason, 10-19
• Air Force, 12-21.
Combined these 7 teams were 63-140; they won 31.0% of their matches.

The Buffs had “good wins” against Stanford and FSU and at the end of the season they received votes for the top 25. A strong case can be made that the Lady Buffs were a legitimate top 32 team, i.e. they should have been invited to the Big Dance.

A strong case can be made that the Lady Buffs were a legitimate top 32 team, i.e. they should have been in the Big Dance.

If you consider the non-conference “bad losses” to Rice and San Diego and the conference losses to Oregon, Utah, and Arizona State, a strong case can be made that the Lady Buffs should stay at home.

The moral of the story is that competition against good teams and consistency matter!

Lady Buffs Sweep California
Lady Buffs sweep California.