Buffs Roundup: Soccer notches NCAA Tourney win

BOULDER — Buffs soccer is headed to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and there’s even more to like about the Colorado Buffaloes’ performance last week.

Here’s what went down:

Football

Colorado had the week off and now looks forward to taking on Washington in Boulder, with kick-off coming at 8 p.m. Saturday on ESPN.

Basketball

Both the men’s and women’s teams came away with victories this past week. The men topped San Diego 71-53 and UC Irvine 69-53 while the women beat Wisconsin 74-57 and Wyoming 66-56.

The men enjoyed coming home after being in China and were able to take care of business against the Toreros, as they used an 18-2 run in the second half to pull away. The Buffs were led by another double-double from Tyler Bey as he notched 14 points and 10 rebounds. D’Shawn Schwartz also had a solid outing, knocking down two threes to help lead him to a team-high 15 points.

Then, against UC Irvine, McKinley Wright IV and Bey led the way with 16 points each. The Buffs stayed hot from behind the 3-point line and cut the turnovers to single digits for the first time this season.

The women hosted Wisconsin on Thursday before traveling to Wyoming on Sunday, and they took care of business on both nights. First, against Wisconsin, senior guard Quinessa Caylao-Do led the Buffs from the floor with 16 points and 6-9 shooting. In a much closer outing against Wyoming, CU was led by star Mya Hollinshed, with her 17 points and 3 blocks leading the team.

The men’s team will host UC-Irvine on Monday and then will travel to Wyoming on Sunday, while the women’s team will take on Colorado State and Jacksonville next weekend.

Soccer

The Buffs took care of business Saturday afternoon against Northern Colorado, rolling to a 6-0 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Buffs had a thoroughly dominating performance, hitting on six of 24 shots while controlling possession and the momentum for the majority of the game. Everyone was able to get in on the action, with six different players striking balls past the keeper. Senior Taylor Kornieck led the charge with seven shots, two on goal, including a PK goal and assist.

Roo Yarnell-Williams was also able to get some solid looks, hitting three shots to go along with her goal. Goalkeeper J.J. Tompkins held her end of the bargain with two saves and a shutout, but ultimately she was not needed as much as normal. Colorado is normally a team that wins solid defensive battles, but Saturday was an offensive explosion.

CU now looks forward to the second round of the tournament as they travel to Chapel Hill to take on second-ranked North Carolina (19-1-1).

Volleyball

The Buffs lost both matches in their road trip to Washington falling to 11-15 on the season.

First, on Friday night against the Washington Huskies, CU dropped 0-3 as their offensive struggles continue. The narrative all-season is Colorado’s inability to hit the ball consistently, and it carried into the game against UW. Behind a 16.3% hitting percentage, Colorado had a mere 31 kills in the three-set match. Sterling Parker and Justine Spann led the team in this category, with 17 kills between them.

Next against Washington State, the Buffs lost in five behind shaky fourth and fifth sets. Colorado did not hit the ball much better than their previous game but was bailed out by an equally pour outing from the Cougars. Justine Spann and Elissa Alcantara each had 16 kills, and pushed the Buffs to a 2-1 lead. However, they lost by 10 in the fourth set and gave WSU all the momentum, letting them beat them in five.

The Buffs return home for the remainder of the season, with the first matchups coming against California and Stanford on Friday and Sunday.

Cross Country

The men finished second while the women finished in fourth this week at the NCAA Regionals in Salt Lake City, Utah.

While Northern Arizona destroyed the competition in the men’s race by finishing 32 points ahead of CU, the Buffs were able to compete well with those around them. Colorado had five runners in the top-20, with John Dressel and Kashon Harrison finishing in fifth and seventh and Joe Klecker right behind them at eleventh. Dressel was just ten seconds behind the lead with a time of 30:43:3.

The women had a more competitive race this week and saw four runners get into the top-30 as they were led again by Sage Hurta at nine with a 20:09:4 time. After Hurta, Rachel McArther, Holly Benth, and Karina Mann were all within ten seconds of one another as they placed 20, 21, and 27.

Both teams now begin preparation for the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana on Saturday, Nov. 23.