{"id":4064,"date":"2026-08-24T10:03:37","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T10:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=4064"},"modified":"2026-08-24T10:03:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T10:03:37","slug":"no-23-colorado-volleyball-aims-to-fulfill-expectations-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=4064","title":{"rendered":"No. 23 Colorado volleyball aims to fulfill expectations in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…<\/strong><\/div>\n
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The 2025 season was a banner campaign for the Colorado volleyball team.<\/p>\n

The Buffaloes finished 23-9, tying the fourth-highest win total in program history. CU went 12-6 in the Big 12, finishing in a three-way tie for third, and more than held its own against the nation\u2019s best, going 4-4 against ranked foes. The Buffs reached the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in 10 seasons under head coach Jesse Mahoney, defeating American University in the opening round before losing in four sets at No. 15 Indiana in the second round.<\/p>\n

Read more Today in History: August 24, Pluto demoted to dwarf planet<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s quite a list of accomplishments. And the Buffaloes understand none of them mean anything this season.<\/p>\n

With the bulk of that lineup returning this year, expectations for the Buffs are soaring going into Friday\u2019s season opener at home against CSUN on Friday (6 p.m., ESPN+).<\/p>\n

\u201cI think something that we\u2019ve talked about and are realizing is that we haven\u2019t done anything yet,\u201d fourth-year pin attacker Sydney Jordan said. \u201cWe still have such high goals for ourselves. Even though last season was good, we\u2019re still going to have to work tenfold to be better this season than we were last year. I think that\u2019s what we\u2019ve talked about is to not be satisfied. Kind of take it one point at a time, one game at a time, and not get ahead of ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the Buffs maybe snuck up on a few teams last year, especially when they opened Big 12 play with road wins against ranked foes at BYU and Utah, CU will instead have a target on its back this year.<\/p>\n

Read more Bear found in tree in Denver\u2019s Platt Park<\/a><\/p>\n

The Buffs were picked fifth in the Big 12\u2019s preseason coaches\u2019 poll and enter the season ranked No. 23 in the AVCA Top 25. Fourth-year pin attacker Ana Burilovic was a third-team AVCA All-America selection last year and returns as one of the top players in the Big 12, yet the Buffs boast a wealth of talent and experience beyond Burilovic.<\/p>\n

Jordan and Lily Dwinell are four-year players who give the Buffs dependable options on the attack. Cayla Payne, another player from the fourth-year class that has stuck together, combines with second-year middle blocker Maria Splawska to give CU a solid defensive presence. CU will have a new starting setter this year, but the Buffs will welcome back Avery Bolles, the starting defensive specialist\/libero early last year until an injury ended her season after seven matches. Peyton Neal, who took over at defensive specialist\/libero the rest of the way, also returns.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOne of the nice things about success is it leaves you wanting more,\u201d Mahoney said. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anyone that left that floor at Indiana last year that felt satisfied with how our season ended. We felt like we played well. We felt like we grew. But we certainly didn\u2019t feel like we maxed out our potential. I think that was the sentiment in our spring. Our spring was really a positive spring for us. We had a lot of growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people ask me the difference last year as opposed to two years ago when we had a little bit of a rough season. We retained everybody and the answer is growth. We had a breakout season from Ana but outside of that, everyone got better. That\u2019s what we expect this year. We expect everyone else to get better and hopefully get another couple breakout seasons from some other players. I think since that last match up until now, we\u2019ve been working towards this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Renck: Katy Winge becoming lead analyst on Nuggets broadcasts lets her honor her father<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With nearly the entire lineup returning from last year’s NCAA Tournament squad, the Colorado Buffaloes volleyball team enters the season ranked No. 23 while aiming to meet high expectations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nNo. 23 Colorado volleyball aims to fulfill expectations in 2026 - Colorado Springs Moverss<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=4064\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"No. 23 Colorado volleyball aims to fulfill expectations in 2026 - 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