Colorado overpowers K-State in five games

For most of the match last night, K-State looked to be the victor, with strong performances and streaks of fiery momentum. However, the K-State volleyball team lost its sizzle late in the night, giving up to Colorado its first conference loss of the season in five games.

K-State dropped the first game 22-25 despite a late effort from down by six points to within one. In a partial reversal of the first game, K-State jumped out with an early lead and kept the favor for most of game two, taking the game 25-21 after a long juggling of points. With ten minutes to catch their breath, the Wildcats stormed into the third game with eight consecutive points and later won by a large margin, 25-14. However, Colorado came back in the fourth game to win 25-21, extending the match one more game, winning 15-10.

Freshman middle blocker Kaitlynn Pelger had another stellar night with 16 kills and an outstanding .500 hitting percentage, which combined with her two blocks earned her the player of the match. Senior outside hitter JuliAnne Chisholm boosted her team's score with 17 kills, and sophomore setter Caitlyn Donahue recorded another double-double in assists and digs for a strong back-row effort with senior libero Lauren Mathewson's 18 digs.

The Wildcats got off to a rocky start. Colorado took the first four points of the match behind two straight aces, and then the teams traded points to 9-3, when K-State called its first timeout. The Wildcats made some headway, but Colorado was able to keep its six-point lead to 18-12, with both sides often failing to score on their serve. A bout of communication errors on K-State's side weighed that team down, but it still managed to slowly chip away at Colorado's lead, moving close to game point down only four. A stuff block from sophomore middle blocker Alex Muff and sophomore opposite hitter Kathleen Ludwig put the Buffaloes into panic mode, and a shot from freshman outside hitter Dakota Kaufman moved her team closer to 22-23, but two attacks from Colorado gave it game one, 25-22.

Looking to turn things around, the Wildcats boosted their defensive effort and came back with a four-point run to pull ahead 6-2. Not to be outplayed, Colorado returned fire with its own nice run to eventually even the game 8-all. Donahue set up the slide with Muff, which kicked off K-State's scoring frenzy to 15-9, right behind Mathewson's tenth ace this season. Colorado managed to put up some more points, but K-State returned every effort and kept its lead. With the Buffaloes making strides with a small run, K-State successfully froze its opponent with a timeout. From there, the team in purple quickly moved to game point, with a kill from Pelger ending game two in favor of the Wildcats, 25-21.

Donahue's ferocious serving spearheaded an impressive 8-0 run to commence the third game. The Wildcats kept the spirit alive with some strong attacks and digs to continue moving the team forward to 17-7. A rock-solid attack from Pelger set K-State at 23-13, and Chisholm finished off the game 25-14 with a straight sizzler.

K-State kept the momentum going in the fourth game, pushing the game to 10-5. However, Colorado, not wanting to go down in four, rallied back in a singular effort to pull ahead 18-15. Chisholm experienced more defensive clambering around her, so Pelger took over with an increase in swings, putting her team within one 20-23. A K-State service error gave the Buffaloes game point, but Ludwig and Muff blocked the attack for another point. However, another service error from the Wildcats moved the match to a fifth game, 25-21 Colorado.

Once again, the Wildcats picked up a sweep to get out to a 3-0 lead, but the Buffaloes followed suit to tie the game 4-all. They picked up two more points, which forced K-State to take its timeout. The Wildcats held out point for point, but Colorado reached match point 14-10, and a Buffalo kill gave it the game and match 15-10.

The Wildcats play their fourth match in two weeks on Saturday, taking on Missouri at home.