Colorado head coach Jesse Mahoney yells while Ines Losada gets ready to serve in Colorado’s win over TCU at the CU Events Center on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (Tyler Phillips/CU Independent)
Colorado women’s volleyball (21-5, 11-3 Big 12) pulled off an electric comeback victory over the No. 16 TCU Horned Frogs (18-8, 8-6 Big 12) in five sets at the CU Events Center on Thursday, Nov. 13.
The first set played out like the top-25 matchup it was promised to be, with neither team leading by more than a point as the score reached 9-9.
Junior setter Rian Finley and junior middle blocker Cayla Payne combined for a block before Finley dumped a kill to give the Buffs their largest lead of the game, 12-9.
TCU wouldn’t go down easy, as a 4-0 run helped them regain the lead, 14-13, before a 6-1 Colorado run powered the Buffs to 19-15 .
Colorado used the lead to cruise to a 25-21 first-set win. Freshman Inés Losada was the one to end it with an ace that TCU couldn’t handle, sending the ball into the student section.
The second set started the same way; the Buffs and Horned Frogs tied six times before the score read 8-8.
TCU slowly started to chip away at the Buffs’ defense, however.
Junior Ana Burilović, who typically powers the Buffs’ offense, was held largely at bay, but her swing couldn’t be contained forever. She got a strong swing off, but the TCU defense was able to chase it down, resulting in a free ball. Finley went right back to the pin attacker, and she wouldn’t miss open court this time, putting down another powerful swing to bring the Buffs back within one, 13–12.
The TCU offense continued to build and build, eventually swelling the lead to six, 23-16, with their fifth block of the match.
Sophomore Maria Spławska scored back-to-back aces, but it was too little, too late as the Horned Frogs tied the sets at one, 25-19.
The third set started hot for the Buffs as junior Sydney Jordan put down consecutive kills to build the lead to 8-5.
The TCU defense really started to shine during a 9–1 run that included only three Horned Frogs kills and was instead fueled by two blocks and four CU errors. As the Buffs’ focus began to slip, they suddenly found themselves in a six-point hole, 19–12.
A 3-0 Colorado run was quickly extinguished with two more errors and a block, fueling a 4-0 run.
The Horned Frogs capped off a perfectly executed defensive set with a kill that was tipped out of bounds, taking the third set, 25-19.
The TCU defense forced as many attacking errors as the Buffs’ offense had kills, holding the Colorado hitting percentage to .000.
The fourth set got dramatic as Colorado was now fighting for the game.
Things were neck and neck before the Buffs’ defense forced back-to-back attacking errors, allowing the lead to get up to 12-10.
TCU battled back to tie the fourth set before a diving Finley dug out a TCU attack, allowing senior libero Sarah Morton to set up Burilović. Her attack was met with a kill attempt from TCU sophomore Evan Hendrix, before another diving attempt from Finley was met with Burilović diving to keep the ball off the ground. Her dig got an assist from the net, pushing it into the hands of Spławska, who set it over. The Horned Frogs reloaded their offense into a Burilović block. The reception went right back to Burilović’s side, allowing her to respond with a solo block, putting the Buffs up 12-10 and ending the rally that every player on the court contributed to.
Colorado’s Rian Finley, Sydney Jordan and Maria Splawska celebrate after a point in Colorado’s win over TCU at teh CU Events Center on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (Tyler Phillips/CU Independent)
Colorado used the momentum and the crowd’s energy to go up 20-16, entering the later stages of the fourth set. In turn, TCU was able to use two separate 3-0 runs to push the fourth set to deuce.
The Horned Frogs’ defense put Colorado on the ropes with a block to put them one point away from taking the match in four sets. Instead, an attack error allowed Jordan to put a full-strength swing into the ball, deflecting it up into the scoreboard before it landed on the Horned Frogs’ side, for the final point in a momentum-shifting fourth set that CU claimed 29-27.
By this point, the crowd of more than 1,500 fans inside the CU Events Center erupted, fueling the already high-energy atmosphere.
Colorado used that momentum to feed fifth-set star, Burilović. She opened the final set with four kills en route to doubling up TCU, 10-5.
The Horned Frogs buckled in, going on a 7-3 run, crawling their way back to within one, 13-12.
Colorado found themselves in trouble, as TCU’s 19th block of the match put them one point away again, 15-14.
Back-to-back Becca Kelley attack errors helped put the pressure on, putting the Buffs up 16-15 in their first match point of the game.
The game extended again as Hendrix put down a kill to tie the score back up 16-16.
After Lily Dwinell attacked the wall that had been giving the Buffs trouble all night, squeezing the ball between the blockers and the net, the TCU defense couldn’t keep it up, putting Colorado back on the edge once again, 17–16.
Uproar followed as Colorado worked to complete the comeback while TCU aimed to maintain control of the fifth set.
Jordan sent the serve over to the TCU side, leading to a soft touch that had given the CU defense trouble all night. Morton got the diving pancake save to keep the play alive, nearly colliding with Jordan, who rose to a kneeling position and pushed it upwards to a scrambling Finley, who sent the free ball over the net behind her back.
Back-to-back Spławska blocks forced the TCU offense to retry their approach. The soft touch of setter Ella Foti dumped an unexpected kill into the soft zone of the defense, while Morton and Finley collided diving for the ball.
Burilović was there to simply pepper the ball over the net and allow the defense to reset. The Horned Frogs found Murphy again, only for Dwinell and Spławska to meet the kill attempt for a monster block that sent the crowd into a frenzy.
The 22-second rally ended the 161-minute five-set marathon, as the fifth set went in favor of the Buffs, 19-17, as they completed the comeback. Colorado is now 6-0 in five-set matches this season.
“[It was] a tale of two matches,” head coach Jesse Mahoney said. “We just kept chipping away. And, you know, we talked in timeouts about, ‘Hey, keep doing the right things and you’ll get rewarded.’”
TCU recorded 19 blocks and held Colorado’s offense to just a .172 hitting percentage.
“I’m not sure we made a lot of changes,” Mahoney said. “We just tried to be better at what we do.”
Finely, a junior, was all over the court, recording 50 assists, nine digs, three blocks and three kills to go along with her 1000th career assist.
Junior setter Rian Finley sets the ball in Colorado’s game win over TCU at the CU Events Center on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (Tyler Phillips/CU Independent)
“Honestly, I didn’t think I would hit 1,000 this season,” Finley said. “It’s everything. It’s a lot of hard work put into it.”
Coming off two tough losses against Kansas and Kansas State, Mahoney mentioned how important it was to be back in Boulder after Kansas State’s sweep against the Buffs. The crowd showed up and helped swing momentum.
“I feel like Boulder always shows out for us in good ways,” Finley said.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Jake Chau at jake.chau@colorado.edu.
