Ana Burilović receives the ball in the Colorado vs. Kansas women’s volleyball game at the CU Events Center in Boulder, Colorado on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (Linus Loughry/CU Independent)
The University of Colorado women’s volleyball team is off to a hot start in the 2025 campaign. After a 13-17 2024 season, the Buffs have 10 returning players including All-Big 12 second-team selection Ana Burilović.
Opening the season Aug. 29, in Laramie, Wyo. for the Rumble in the Rockies, Colorado was able to sweep the Cleveland State University Vikings, the University of Tulsa Hurricanes and the host of the event, the University of Wyoming Cowgirls to open the season 3-0. Burilović was excellent in all three matches, scoring a team-high 45 kills.
Over the weekend the Buffs took part in the University of California Irvine Anteaters Classic, featuring the Fresno State University Bulldogs, the University of Pennsylvania Quakers and host UC Irvine Anteaters.
The Buffs opened their weekend round-robin trip to California with a gritty three-set sweep of the Bulldogs. Burilović led an efficient match, with a season-high 18 kills. She showed up in important moments throughout the match, scoring the Buffs’ 22nd and 23rd points of the second set on back-to-back kills. The Buffs 13-3 run thwarted the Bulldogs’ second set momentum.
“We also had several long-serving runs, and it’s nice to have two or three servers that can really disrupt the other side,” said Colorado head coach Jesse Mahoney.
The third set saw total domination for Colorado. Burilović remained a hot hand, contributing on each of the last four points of a 7-0 run, assisting Cayla Payne on a block to put the Buffs up 9-2.
Friday, the Buffs were back in action, this time against the Penn Quakers.
The first set was bookended by two 5-0 runs for the Buffs as freshman middle Olivia Grenadier slammed down four kills and a block in Colorado’s 25-15 first set win.
The Quakers got out to a quick 4-2 lead to start the second set, before a 12-3 run helped by five kills from freshman Inés Losada. Penn had four consecutive points go its way late before another Losada kill and a Katie Salonga ace put the second set away, 25-14.
The third set solidified the Buffs win as they cruised to a 25-17 final score, their fifth consecutive sweep of the season.
This win was put on the backs of the freshman pair, Losada and Grenadier, much to the praise of Coach Mahoney.
“We got the opportunity to get some younger players on the floor. That was good. We’re going to need some of those players when it counts later in the season,” Mahoney said.
Losada had a career-high 10 kills and two aces, a game-high for either team in each respective category. Grenadier saw six kills with a 1.000 hitting percentage.
The Buffs opened 5-0 with all sweeps for the first time in program history.
Closing out with a match against UC Irvine the following day, Coach Mahoney sang the Anteaters’ praises.
“We went five with them last year, they’re really well coached. A good ball control team, they’ve had a really nice start to their season, especially offensively,” Coach Mahoney said. “We’ll watch them tonight live, a little film tomorrow, and we should be ready.”
History repeated itself, as the Buffs and Anteaters duked out a classic on the final day of the tournament.
With strong momentum, the Buffs opened the first set 10-5 before UC Irvine went on a 4-1 run themselves. From that point, Burilović, Payne and junior Lily Dwinell took over. Burilović and Dwinell had two kills apiece, while Payne added three herself in a 25-15 first set win.
The second set proved difficult, and the Buffs dropped their first set of the season. Seventeen of 25 points came from kills for the Buffs.
On the back end of a 6-0 UC Irvine run, Colorado dug deep, responding with a 4-0 run to keep the set tied at 14. However the Anteaters prevailed with a 9-2 run to end the second set 25-19, each team winning one set.
In the third set, the Anteaters cruised to a 25-16 victory, putting them just 25 points away from handing the Buffs their first loss of the season.
Cleaning up errors was pivotal for Colorado, and Mahoney’s staff focused on that adjustment.
In the fourth set, the Buffs only had one hitting error, slamming down 13 kills of their own. Disrupting the Anteaters attack proved important. Payne shone with four kills, three of which came in a 14-4 run. Junior Sydney Jordan was incredible on the service line in the fourth set, with three aces.
With both teams tied at two sets apiece, the stage was set for the race to 15 points in the fifth and final set.
Early back-to-back kills from Payne helped set the tempo as the Buffs took an early 3-1 lead.
Out of a UC Irvine timeout, three kills from each Dwinell, Burilović and Payne came in quick succession as the Buffs held onto a 6-3 lead.
When a kill from Jordan and an ace from Senior Sarah Morton put the Buffs just seven points away from salvaging the messy second and third sets, UC Irvine Head Coach Ashlie Hain called her last timeout of the fifth set.
The Buffs gathered steam and were charging full speed ahead with nothing left to stop them. Payne added two more kills to bring her match total to 16. Burilović put down the last point for the Buffs to set a new season and career-high 20 kills.
“A little bit of an uneven performance for us… It was good for us to be tested, have to respond, and I think we did a really good job of responding,” Coach Mahoney said.
The Buffs remain undefeated and will host the University of Arkansas, University of Denver and the University of Toledo for the Buffs Invitational at the CU Events Center Sept. 12-14.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Jake Chau at jake.chau@colorado.edu
