{"id":117846,"date":"2023-08-25T21:50:22","date_gmt":"2023-08-25T21:50:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cottontailsonline.com\/?p=117846"},"modified":"2023-08-25T21:50:22","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T21:50:22","slug":"2023-season-begins-for-cu-buffs-volleyball-with-tough-matchup-against-unlv-the-denver-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cottontailsonline.com\/world-news\/2023-season-begins-for-cu-buffs-volleyball-with-tough-matchup-against-unlv-the-denver-post\/","title":{"rendered":"2023 season begins for CU Buffs volleyball with tough matchup against UNLV  The Denver Post"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/BUF-L-CURICEVOLLEY-04-1.jpeg\"><\/p>\n<p>Lexi Hadrych could have walked away from college volleyball content with the success of the 2022 season.<\/p>\n<p>After transferring to Colorado from UCLA, Hadrych played a key role in the Buffaloes\u2019 first march to the NCAA Tournament since 2018. Along the way, Hadrych earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors.<\/p>\n<p>Yet among her five collegiate seasons, Hadrych had one redshirt year and also played through the Pac-12&#8217;s conference-only schedule of the COVID 2020 season, which was played in early 2021. With an extra year of eligibility available from that 2020 season, combined with her desire to complete a Masters degree, Hadrych always planned to return for a second and final season with the Buffs, and her sixth collegiate season overall.<\/p>\n<p>That season gets underway on Friday night, as the Buffs begin the 2023 campaign with a rare matchup against UNLV at the CU Events Center.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think right away we\u2019ll be tested,\u201d Hadrych said. \u201cWe have a great (nonconference) schedule. Every team that we\u2019re playing, you know that they\u2019ve done well in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Buffs certainly won\u2019t get a chance to ease into the season, as the UNLV opener is the start of three matches in three days in the Buffs Invitational.<\/p>\n<p>The Rebels won the Mountain West Conference regular season crown a year ago before losing to Washington State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. CU also lost in the first round, against Rice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUNLV might turn out to be the best team we play in (nonconference),\u201d said head coach Jesse Mahoney, who is beginning his eighth season at CU. \u201cThat\u2019s a pretty good team to start with. I like our (nonconference) schedule. It\u2019s a great RPI schedule. It\u2019s better than probably our last two years to be honest, and we get to play at home a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Related Articles<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p><span><br \/>\nVolleyball: CU Buffs open preseason practice as move to Big 12 looms<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Hadrych is part of a returning core that helped lead that NCAA Tournament run, a group that also includes middle blocker Alexia Kuehl, outside hitter Maya Tabron and setter Taylor Simpson. Surrounding them is a total of 10 newcomers \u2014 six true freshmen, three second-year players who redshirted last season (Rian Finley, Kendall Meller, Emma DeSensi), and North Carolina transfer Skyy Howard.<\/p>\n<p>Howard, a 6-foot-3 middle blocker, should help offset the graduation of Meegan Hart, a first team All-Pac-12 selection last year. With three contests in three days to start the season, Mahoney said he expects to get a good look at different lineup combinations throughout the opening weekend.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I know how we\u2019re going to start on Friday. I\u2019m not sure that\u2019s how we\u2019re going to finish that match,\u201d Mahoney said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m not sure that\u2019s how we\u2019re going to look on Saturday or Sunday. There\u2019s a couple positions where there\u2019s some pretty decent separation. And then there\u2019s a couple positions where there isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s exciting is we have a lot of talent, a lot of athletes. I think we\u2019ll settle on a lineup and rotation and roles. But I don\u2019t think we\u2019re quite there yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>UNLV Rebels at CU Buffs women\u2019s volleyball<\/h4>\n<p><strong>GAME TIME<\/strong>: Friday, 7 p.m., CU Events Center<\/p>\n<p><strong>RECORDS (2022)<\/strong>: UNLV 26-5, 17-1 Mountain West Conference; Colorado 20-11, 12-8 Pac-12.<\/p>\n<p><strong>KEY PLAYERS (2022 stats)<\/strong>: <strong>UNLV<\/strong> \u2014 OH Isabel Martin, R-Sr. (3.88 kills per set, 2.42 digs per set); OH Gabrielle Arretche-Ramos, Sr. (3.60 kills per set); RS Chloe Thomas, Jr. (2.03 kills per set); MB Jordyn Freeman, R-Sr. (0.95 blocks per set, 1.59 kills per set). <strong>Colorado<\/strong> \u2014 OH Lexi Hadrych, Gr. (3.25 kills per set); OH Maya Tabron, Sr. (3.18 kills per set, 2.24 digs per set); MB Alexia Kuehl, R-Jr. (1.11 blocks per set, 1.66 kills per set); S Taylor Simpson, Jr. (7.87 assists per set; 1.93 digs per set).<\/p>\n<p><strong>NOTES<\/strong>: CU continues the Buffs Invitational on Saturday against Campbell (6 p.m.) and Sunday against North Texas (noon). \u2026 Going into his eighth season, head coach Jesse Mahoney owns a 112-94 mark at CU. \u2026 The Buffs went 13-3 at home last year. CU has won 13 consecutive nonconference home games. \u2026 UNLV\u2019s Isabel Martin was the Player of the Year in the Mountain West Conference last season. .. The Buffs and UNLV have meet just once, with CU winning 3-0 in Las Vegas on Aug. 26, 2011. \u2026 Mahoney said redshirt freshman Rian Finley has been pushing returning starter Taylor Simpson for time at setter. &#8220;It&#8217;s Taylor&#8217;s spot right now,&#8221; Mahoney said. &#8220;But I could see us going into a double-sub situation if we needed to, if we&#8217;re struggling in a rotation. Rian&#8217;s been doing a nice job.&#8221; &#8230; The non-CU games taking place this weekend at the Buffs Invitational \u2014 Campbell vs. North Texas (Friday, 4 p.m.); UNLV vs. North Texas (Saturday, 3 p.m.); Campbell vs. UNLV (Sunday, 10 a.m.)<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2023\/08\/24\/2023-season-begins-for-cu-buffs-volleyball-with-tough-matchup-against-unlv\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lexi Hadrych could have walked away from college volleyball content with the success of the 2022 season. After transferring to Colorado from UCLA, Hadrych played a key role in the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>2023 season begins for CU Buffs volleyball with tough matchup against UNLV The Denver Post - cottontailsonline.com<\/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:\/\/cottontailsonline.com\/world-news\/2023-season-begins-for-cu-buffs-volleyball-with-tough-matchup-against-unlv-the-denver-post\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2023 season begins for CU Buffs volleyball with tough matchup against UNLV The Denver Post - cottontailsonline.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lexi Hadrych could have walked away from college volleyball content with the success of the 2022 season. 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