Thumped: Colorado blasts No. 14 BYU women’s volleyball 3-1
-
- BYU’s Sophia Callahan (22) and Abby Hoyjberg put up a block against Colorado in a Big 12 women’s volleyball match at the Smith Fieldhouse on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025.
-
- BYU’s Suli Davis serves against Colorado in a Big 12 women’s volleyball match at the Smith Fieldhouse on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025.
-
- BYU’s Sophia Callahan (in white) swings against Colorado’s Lily Dwinell in a Big 12 women’s volleyball match at the Smith Fieldhouse on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025.
-
- BYU’s Claire Little Chambers (12) takes a swing against Colorado in a Big 12 women’s volleyball match at the Smith Fieldhouse on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025.
-
- BYU’s Alex Bower (left) and Brielle Kemavor put up a block against Colorado in a Big 12 women’s volleyball match at the Smith Fieldhouse on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025.
-
- BYU’s Suli Davis (left) takes a swing against Colorado in a Big 12 women’s volleyball match at the Smith Fieldhouse on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025.
BYU sophomore setter Alex Bower watched a horror movie late Thursday night.
She decided to relive the nightmare that was the No. 14 Cougars’ four-set loss (25-14, 25-23, 23-25, 25-21) to Colorado in the Smith Fieldhouse to open Big 12 play.
“I’ll probably be watching film tonight,” Bower said after the match. “Yeah, actually, I know that I will be watching film. I just give myself tonight to focus on what I could have done better, but then tomorrow, as soon as I wake up, it’s a new day.”
BYU sailed through the non-conference schedule 12-0 but was completely outplayed by Colorado, which started the match white-hot and picked up their biggest win of the season.
Not many teams come into the Fieldhouse and silence the always dialed-in crowd, but the Buffaloes did a pretty good job of it.
“You know, some matches just aren’t your match,” Bower said. “I felt like we could have been more disciplined. I felt like all week we’ve been playing hard and competitive but sometimes you just have to mix up your shots. I think we were just a little slow to problem solve.”
Colorado’s Ana Burilovic was definitely a big problem for the Cougars, finishing the night with a match-high 22 kills and four aces, hitting .333. Burilovic had 10 kills on 16 swings before making her first error late in Set 2.
Meanwhile, BYU didn’t pass well (always a big problem), didn’t touch a Colorado attack until the second set and couldn’t overcome a subpar night from its pin hitters. Freshman Suli Davis led the Cougars with 15 kills and junior Claire Little Chambers had 11, but they also combined for 20 of BYU’s whopping 28 hitting errors on the night.
Colorado finished with nine total blocks, but most of the Cougar hitting errors were simply missed shots into the net or out of bounds.
“They (Colorado) had a great match,” BYU head coach Heather Olmstead said. “They played really well in all phases of the game and we really couldn’t keep up with them. We were flat in every area of the game and I’m not sure why. Offensively, defensively, serving, passing … and yet we’re still within a couple of points in some of the sets.”
Colorado hit .565 in Set 1 with just one error, including six kills from Burilovic and spanked BYU 25-14, its worst set loss since getting drilled by the same score by Arizona State in the Fieldhouse last Halloween.
Junior middle Brielle Kemavor — who was terrific for the Cougars and finished with 14 kills and four blocks — smashed an attack to tie Set 2 at 22. But Colorado score three of the final four points and Burilovic finished things off with a kill at 25-23, giving the visitors a stunning 2-0 lead in the match.
BYU found a good rhythm and sped to a 13-5 advantage in the third set. But Colorado roared back and tied the score at 22 on a Burilovic ace serve. A superb Bower dig led to a Kemavor kill and at set point (24-23), Little Chambers tooled her shot off the block for the win.
Down 2-1 in the match, the Cougars trailed 22-20 in Set 4 when Kemavor appeared to have a good shot to pull within one but was called for making contact with the net. At match point, Burilovic stroked an ace for the winner to set off a big celebration for the Buffaloes.
Bower had 37 assists, two aces, 10 digs and one block and defensive specialist Lulu Uluave finished with a team-high 13 digs for BYU (12-1 overall, 0-1 Big 12).
Colorado (10-2, 1-0) hit .328, outblocked the Cougars 9-5 and committed half as many errors (14).
“We don’t have much time to look at it,” Olmstead said. “We’ve just got to see if we can come back better tomorrow, practice and get ready for a good Iowa State team. We’ve got to move on tomorrow.”
The Cyclones and Cougars meet on Saturday in the Fieldhouse at noon MT. Iowa State is coming off a reverse sweep at Utah, losing the first two sets before rallying for a 3-2 victory in Salt Lake City on Thursday.
