No. 12-ranked Oregon volleyball (9-3) fell to Colorado (12-3) in a 3-1 loss at the Coors Events Center in Colorado on Saturday night.
Following a narrow win over No. 5 Utah on Friday, the Ducks failed to rally against unranked Colorado, finishing the road trip to the mountain schools with an even 1-1 record.
Colorado quickly took the lead in the first set, up 9-2 against the Ducks. Although Oregon was capable of getting within three points at 11-8, the Buffaloes carried through to the end with an opening set win of 25-18. Oregon finished the first set with a .000 hitting percentage.
Colorado began to lead the second set 13-9 until Oregon scored seven points in a row, taking a 22-17 lead. As the Buffaloes pushed for a 7-2 run, the set was tied up 24-24. Ronika Stone’s kill helped the Ducks gain a set point and an error on Colorado’s end finished the set with a 1-1 tie going into the third match.
In the third set Oregon was up 14-12 until former Duck Frankie Shebby came in for Colorado. Shebby landed back-to-back kills, bringing the Buffaloes up on an 11-3 run, ending the set with two kills in a row and a 2-1 lead.
Oregon went into the fourth set ready on their feet with a 12-6 lead which advanced to 20-13. Although they maintained their comeback with four straight points to keep a close game, Colorado was able to score five of the six final points to end the match and take home the victory.
Senior libero Alex Hojnar ended the match landing a career-high 19 digs, while junior Lindsay Vander Weide led the tea with 13 kills, and setting duo senior Maggie Scott and junior August Raskie had 44 combined assists.
The Ducks return to Eugene next weekend at Matt Knight Arena for two consecutive home matches. Friday, Oct. 9 is when the first will take place against defending national champion Stanford at 8 p.m. PT.
Follow Daphne Martin on Twitter @daaphnemaartin